Woodkirk Stone
Two Israeli soldiers were slightly injured in clashes with Palestinians near Joseph’s grave in the northern West Bank early Monday, Israeli police said.
The troops were part of a military police force guarding a group of around 500 Jewish worshipers who surrendered to the site near the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
Palestinians attacked the convoy of buses heading to the sanctuary with live ammunition, stones and homemade explosive devices, police said in a statement.
The soldiers retaliated, the statement said. There were no immediate details of the Palestinian casualties.
One officer was hit by shrapnel from an explosive device, while the second was hit in the face by a stone. Both were slightly injured.
Images showing Palestinian terrorists opening fire on IDF forces in the area of ​​Joseph’s tomb in Nablus #West Bank pic.twitter.com/zgQPcYrfCf
– parallel_universe (@ignis_fatum) September 26, 2021
The clashes come a day after Israeli forces killed five Palestinians in a series of raids across the West Bank. Two Israeli soldiers were seriously injured, apparently in a friendly fire incident.
The raids targeted suspected members of a Hamas cell who were planning a major terrorist attack reminiscent of the Second Intifada, officials told Hebrew TV stations.
It was not clear whether the clashes at the tomb were a reaction to the raids. The sanctuary itself has been a frequent flashpoint.
Almost monthly visits by Israelis to Joseph’s Tomb are authorized by the Israel Defense Forces and are carried out under heavily armed guard.
Joseph’s Tomb is located inside Area A of the West Bank, which is officially under the full control of the Palestinian Authority, although the IDF carries out activities there. The Israeli military prohibits Israeli citizens from entering Area A without prior permission.
The site is revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims, and has often been a hotbed of sectarian violence. During visits by Jewish pilgrims, Palestinians regularly throw stones at troops and sometimes attack them with Molotov cocktails and gunfire.
In 2015, a large group of Palestinians set fire to the compound containing Joseph’s tomb. Palestinian Authority security forces dispersed the crowd of around 100 and managed to put out the fire at the tomb, which tradition says contains the remains of the biblical patriarch Joseph.
There were other arson and vandalism at the site, including extensive damage by Palestinian rioters in 2000.