A number of Israeli settlers raided Joseph’s Tomb, in the West Bank city of Nablus, this morning, according to the PNN.Eyewitnesses said that the settlers raided the place, under guard of Israeli troops who fired rubber bullets, tear gas and sound bombs at Palestinian youth, who answered by throwing rocks. No injuries have been reported.

Almost every week settlers break into Joseph’s Tomb to perform Talmudic rituals, under the claim that it belongs to the biblical Joseph, while historical novels stress that the tomb belongs to one Sheikh Yusef Dweikat, a local religious figure.

Also in the Nablus region, on Monday, Israeli settlers uprooted dozens of olive trees in the northern West Bank, according to a Palestinian official.

Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settler activity in the area, told Ma’an News Agency that Israelis from the settlement of Eli destroyed 30 olive trees in the village of Qaryut south of Nablus.

The area around the villages south of Nablus is a frequent site of settler violence and Palestinian clashes with Israeli forces, Ma’an reports.

More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in contravention of international law, to which Israel is signatory.

The trees belonged to Hassan Nimr, Marouh Hamdan, and Othman Suleiman, Daghlas said.

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