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.........