Mortar shell uncovered during Western Wall excavation

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
An old Israeli mortar shell used during the 1948 War of Independence was uncovered Tuesday during an archaeological excavation at the Western Wall plaza, police said. The homemade Davidka mortar, which was found in one piece, was taken by police sappers to an uninhabited site outside the city to be detonated and destroyed, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said. The mortar was used during the initial stages of the war sixty years ago.