Several armored Israeli military jeeps invaded, on Sunday at night, the eastern areas of the northern west Bank city of Nablus, injured one Palestinian with live fire and caused many others to suffer the effects of teargas inhalation.
Media sources in Nablus said the military vehicles, accompanied by an armored bulldozer, invaded the areas surrounding Joseph’s Tomb area in Nablus, especially Amman Street, to provide protection for buses of illegal colonialist settlers visiting the site.
They added that many Palestinians hurled stones at the soldiers who fired many live rounds, rubber-coated steel bullets and gas bombs.
Medical sources said one Palestinian was shot with a live round in his thigh, before he was rushed to Rafidia Hospital in a moderate-but-stable condition, while many others suffered the effects of teargas inhalation.
While the biblical Patriarch Joseph is revered by Jews, Muslims, Christians, and Samaritans alike, the Israeli army allows Jews to visit as part of organized pilgrimages, despite the site being in Area A, under full Palestinian control.
Many Palestinians believe Joseph’s Tomb is the funerary monument to Sheikh Yousef Dweikat, a local religious figure.
