I somewhere read that there was a news ban but the news was spread via social networks and if you reach enough people, some looters will pop up.

Sadly, obviously the side had not been guarded well. So some idiots destroyed potentially invaluable insights into the past for a couple of bucks on the black market.

Although I'm not a fan of penalties I'm thinking about whether fines for breaking the news coverage ban would be any effective. I mean, tracing the social networks shouldn't be difficult.

Israel has quite a serious problem with looting of antiquities. I was talking to an archaeologist a few months ago and suggested adopting something like the UK's Treasure Act so that people who find artefacts have a way of legally being paid for them and was met with blank incomprehension.

Israelis also have a serious problem with following rules (source: am an israeli) finding workarounds and doing what you want is almost a national pastime

In fairness, there are so many sites in this whole area that it is in fact very hard to comprehend how such schemes could be implemented.

I'm not surprised. There is a strong black market for stolen antiquities.

The date on the article is September 19, so maybe a previous Tuesday?

It was probably ransacked by the people who found it