JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The Cave of the Seventy Elders, located in the village of Awarta in Samaria, was desecrated on Tuesday night by Arabs. The cave, a significant archaeological site, is believed to be the tomb of the leaders of the Jewish people after the death of Yehoshua, and is adjacent to the tombs of Elazar and Itamar (the name of a neighboring Jewish community). This is the second such incident within six months, following severe damage that occurred at the same site last August.

The current incident, which includes Hamas graffiti and stone smashing, sparked an uproar among heritage organizations and activists for holy sites.

The vandals, who have yet to be identified, carried out vandalism with a clear nationalistic nature: The words “Hamas” and “Al-Quds” were sprayed on the walls of the cave, and stones inside the ancient cave were smashed and thrown around.

It should be noted that the village of Awarta is adjacent to the village of Huwara, where several deadly terrorist attacks took place in recent years, including the murder of two brothers, Hallel and Yagel Yaniv, whose Yahrzeit was marked on Tuesday by a ceremony at the site of the murder attended by hundreds of people from nearby communities.

In response to the incident, the Jews United (JU) organization urgently appealed to Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, demanding the establishment of a permanent protection mechanism for heritage sites in Samaria, with the goal of preventing similar incidents in the future. Arutz Sheva reported that the Minister’s office is handling the matter together with the relevant authorities.

Holy sites activist Shaloma-Rivka Levine responded sharply: “This lawlessness is a wound in the heart of the nation. We can no longer rely on ‘false calm’ when our heritage sites are being erased. We demand sovereignty and governance now.