Many Palestinians Injured as Settlers Storm Joseph’s Tomb

Dozens of Palestinian youth suffered from tear-gas inhalation, predawn Monday, during violent confrontations which broke out after hundreds of Israeli settlers stormed Joseph’s Tomb, in the northern occupied West Bank city of Nablus.

Ma’an reported that confrontations were triggered when Israeli settlers began performing Jewish religious rituals in Joseph’s Tomb, under the tight security of Israeli forces.

Sources added that Israeli forces fired rubber-coated steel bullets, tear-gas bombs, and stun grenades towardthe youth.

Joseph’s Tomb is revered by Jews, Muslims, Christians, and Samaritans alike. The Israeli military allows Jews to visit as part of organized pilgrimages, despite the site being located in Area A where the PA has full control, and prohibits Muslims from worshiping at the site.

Ultra-orthodox and nationalist Jews regularly try to visit the shrine without approval, as many Jews believe the tomb to be the final resting place of the biblical figure in the Old Testament.

Palestinians believe that Joseph’s Tomb is the funerary monument to Sheikh Yousif Dweikat, a local religious figure.