One Dead, Several Injured In Clashes At Joseph’s Tomb In Nablus

EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / Mourners carry the body of Palestinian Bader al-Masri, who was killed while the Israeli army was securing the coordinated entrance of Israeli civilians to Joseph's Tomb, during the funeral in the city of Nablus in the north of the occupied West Bank on July 20, 2023. . The Israeli army regularly escorts Jewish pilgrims to the holy site, while Palestinians claim the visits are a provocation. ZAIN JAAFAR/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES. 

One person was reported dead and several wounded in clashes that erupted in Shechem (Nablus) on Wednesday night after Palestinian gunmen attacked Jewish worshipers and their military escort at Joseph’s Tomb.

Joseph’s Tomb is located in the heart of Nablus, in the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank. Conflicting views exist whether the patriarch Joseph was buried there; nevertheless, the tomb is recognized as a Jewish shrine, albeit a minor one. According to Jewish tradition, Joseph was buried in the biblical town of Shechem, which is near the present-day city of Nablus. Some archeologists believe the site is only a few centuries old and may contain the remains of a Muslim sheik named Yossef according to the Jewish Virtual Library. 

In addition to being fired upon, Israeli forces were attacked with explosives and stones, according to the Israel Defense Forces. The soldiers responded with live fire and riot dispersal measures, and several hits were identified.

 “One person was killed and at least four wounded in the exchange, two seriously. The Palestinian Red Crescent identified the casualty as Egyptian citizen Bader Sami Rabhi, 19,” said The Palestinian Health Ministry reports.

The Nablus battalion of the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad terrorist group, said its members were “fighting the occupation forces and groups of settlers who had stormed the area of Joseph’s Tomb,” said the Reuters news agency report.

Hundreds of Jewish men pray at the Joseph’s Tomb compound in Nablus on June 10, 2013. The Palestinian Health Ministry reported that one person was killed and at least four wounded in the recent exchange, two seriously. Israeli forces shot dead Thursday a Palestinian near a Jewish shrine in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, said Palestinian officials, as the army claimed troops had come under attack. YAAKOVNAUMI/FLASH90.

“Among the visitors to the tomb on Wednesday night was Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai the first serving police chief to visit the site since the establishment of the state, according,” said Israeli media reports. 

Police said that Shabtai had met earlier with the family of Moshe Klinerman, a teenager who went missing in March 2022, and accompanied them to the tomb.

Four terror suspects were arrested overnight in separate operations in Judea and Samaria, and weapons and ammunition were confiscated, according to the military.

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Edited by Judy J. Rotich and Newsdesk Manager