Security forces prepare to demolish the buildings in the Nativ Ha'avot neighborhood of Gush Etzion, following a Supreme Court decision in December 2016 ordering the destruction of the neighborhood in Elazar after a disputed strip of land was found to run through it.
Kfar Etzion Field School Director Yaron Rosental discovered this morning that the bulldozers destroyed ancient finds from the Middle Bronze Age - dating back to the period of the Patriarchs.
"An archaeological survey was not carried out there before the excavations, and graves that withstood 4,000 years are going to go down the drain," he said. Rosenthal turned to the Archaeological Officer of the Antiquities Authority, responsible for antiquities in Judea and Samaria, to halt the work until a formal survey is performed to prevent the archeological findings from being destroyed.
Rosental expressed grave concern that ancient tombs from the Bronze Age, including burial mounds known as rojum had already been destroyed on the site, a rare find that was also found on the Temple Mount.
"The destruction we discovered this morning and the planned demolition of Netiv Ha'avot comes from the same problematic source, which is the military rule we have in Judea and Samaria that destroys homes for nothing, and destroys archaeological sites without knowing anything about them," Rosenthal said.
The response of the Civil Administration will be published when it is received.