Police detain suspected antiquities thieves before sheltering with them under rocket fire

Police officers, antiquity inspectors, and detained looters found themselves sheltering together under rocket fire in northern Israel last week after the latter were caught red-handed illegally excavating at the Horvat Hermesh archaeological site, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Tuesday.

Horvat Hermesh is located near the Elyakim Interchange, southeast of Haifa. It presents remains from the Roman and Byzantine periods, dating back to the first to seventh centuries CE. The IAA Northern Region’s Theft Prevention Unit received word that two suspects were searching the site and dispatched a team including an IAA inspector, an Israel Parks and Nature Authority inspector, and a security officer from the Megiddo Regional Council.

By the time the team found the suspects, they had already dug a two-meter-deep pit near an ancient agricultural installation. The inspectors then called the Border Police forces to detain the suspects and transfer them to a police station.

En route to the station, however, sirens went off warning of an incoming missile attack in the area. Officers and suspects entered a small public shelter near the shoulder of the road with other civilians. As they waited for the all-clear, airborne explosions shook the shelter.

Eventually, the group arrived at the police station in Zichron Yaakov, where the suspects’ excavation equipment was seized. According to the IAA statement, the investigation is ongoing.

“Surrealistically, even in such tense times, when security forces and citizens are faced with life-threatening issues, there are those who try to exploit the situation and search for antiquities in order to enrich themselves, while harming Israel’s heritage sites,” said Nir Distelfeld, Northern Region supervisor at the IAA Theft Prevention Unit.

“The Israel Antiquities Authority’s Theft Prevention Unit continues its activities on an ongoing basis, even during the war, with the aim of protecting the country’s cultural assets and past,” he added.

In a separate incident last week, another team found two suspects searching for antiquities using metal detectors and digging tools at the Horvat Hadarim site in the Khorvat Drakhmon Nature Reserve on the Carmel Coast. The suspects, residents of nearby Fureidis, were caught with some ancient artifacts they had apparently just looted. According to the IAA statement, the suspects were detained for questioning, their equipment seized, and the investigation file will be transferred to the legal department to decide whether to file an indictment.