Palestinians have once again damaged part of Yehoshua’s Mizbeach on Har Eival.
Upon arriving at the site for Shacharis Friday morning, activists from the Fighting for Every Dunam Forum discovered that Palestinians have once again damaged or removed several layers of stones from the Mizbeach. Some of the ancient stones were reportedly broken into pieces.
They also reported finding many sheep droppings, indicating that Palestinians Sheppards have been using the site, and could be the ones who damaged it.
A number of terror attacks have been carried out in the area. Last month, an IED was hidden among the stones of the Mizbeach, designed to be remotely detonated when Jews approached.
MK Tzvi Succot announced two months ago that the IDF would be installing a security camera at the site, to prevent any further attacks.
In a statement Friday, the forum said: “No matter how much we ignore the only real solution and try to find bypasses, reality will repeatedly slap us in the face,”
“For many years we have been warning that only a permanent Jewish presence in the form of a farm or settlement will ensure Israeli control of the place and prevent damage to the site, but the security establishment refuses to internalize this and unfortunately acts in the exact opposite direction in the form of attempts to restrict visitors to the site with closed military area orders and checkpoints.
“Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority continuously works to take over the entire region to make it a purely Arab area. It’s time to wake up and prevent the occupation of this strategic ridge. We call on the Israeli government and the new commander Major-General Avi Bluth to order the establishment of a Jewish settlement on Har Eval today, which is the only thing that can bring a real victory in the campaign,”
The site was discovered by archeologist Adam Zertal in 1980. Zertal believed the site to be Yehoshua’s Mizbeach mentioned in Tanach. However other archeologists disagree, since the site is located on the north side of Har Eval, and not on the south side facing Har Gerizim, among other reasons. However they agree the site could very well be a site of importance to Bnei Yisrael at the time.
{Matzav.com}