The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Tuesday morning stormed Sebastia town’s archaeological area in Nablus and prevented Palestinian citizens from entering it.
Sebastia mayor Mohamed Azem said that Israeli troops cordoned off the ancient site in the town and barred citizens from entering it without providing a reason for its measure.
The IOF always closes the same area before groups of settlers come on buses to visit it for rituals but there was no sign of settlers coming this time.
Local officials believe that the settlers’ repeated visits to this site are aimed at turning it into a Jewish shrine.
Sebastia is a mixture of structural remains and modern buildings and it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the occupied West Bank.
It was once a major city home to successive civilizations from its Arab Canaanite founders to the Romans and then its modern-day Palestinian inhabitants.
However this unique ancient town is exposed to systematic attempts by Israel and its ministry of tourism to obliterate and Judaize its Palestinian history and identity.
According to mayor Azem Israel prevents the Palestinian local authorities from carrying out any restoration or cleaning works at the historic site.
