The IDF is investigating a reported arson attack on a tomb believed to be the burial site of the biblical Eleazar the Priest in the Palestinian village of Awarta, near Nablus, in the West Bank, the military confirmed on Thursday.
Footage of the alleged arson was shared online and circulated on Palestinian social media.
“Troops searched for suspects, who fled the scene before they arrived,” the military said, adding that Israel Police officers and forensic investigators planned to enter the village under IDF escort to collect evidence and take witness statements.
Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, visited the site for repairs following the attack and condemned the perpetrators as “behaving like ISIS.”
“Every enlightened person in this world, not only Jews, should be appalled by an act like this, the desecration of such a sacred place, such a holy tomb,” Dagan said. “These are our enemies. They choose darkness; they choose to burn. We choose light; we choose life. Light will always triumph over darkness.”
Eleazar, the son of Moses's brother Aaron, was the second High Priest of the Israelites and is a significant biblical figure in Judaism and the Samaritan faith.
Eleazar's tomb repeatedly vandalized, desecrated
Despite its religious significance, the site has been desecrated on multiple occasions. The Israelite Samaritan Information Institute has previously reported that members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) vandalized the tomb with graffiti bearing propaganda messages. As recently as last year, reports indicated that the PFLP’s military wing had continued spray-painting the site.
The Palestinian Authority, which administers the area where the tomb is located, has not commented on the attack. However, the PA-controlled WAFA news agency reported on Thursday that “colonists barged their way into western Awarta town, south of Nablus, and fired live ammunition at a home. No injuries were reported.”
“Colonists’ violence against Palestinians and their property is routine in the West Bank and is rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities,” WAFA reported.
Israel moves to take over archaeological sites from PA
The Palestinian Authority’s alleged failure to protect religiously and historically significant sites has been a source of contention with Israel, which has recently moved to expand its control over archaeological sites, citing concerns over their preservation.
In November, Israel sent a letter to Mahmoud Azem, the mayor of Sebastia, announcing plans to take control of the archaeological site there, and in July, the Foreign Ministry affirmed that Israel was seizing the site because of the threat posed by the “Palestinian Authority’s own record of neglect and complicity, which has allowed the ancient ruins to suffer rampant vandalism, theft, and desecration.”