Clashes broke out between Palestinian youths and the occupation forces at dawn in the eastern part of Nablus after settlers stormed the holy site and performed Talmudic rituals there.
A Quds Press correspondent said occupation forces raided the area and closed its perimeter, preventing the movement of citizens to protect the settlers who stormed Yusuf’s Tomb.
Hundreds of Settlers Storm Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus https://t.co/JODL28kQHU pic.twitter.com/d0mnl2NXBW
— IMEMC News (@imemcnews) January 31, 2018
He reported that Israeli buses carried hundreds of settlers to the area, amid heavy protection by military personnel and vehicles.
Israeli occupation forces used live rounds, rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas to disperse Palestinian demonstrators who had come out in opposition.
The Hebrew site 0404 reported that 1,500 settlers raided the religious site.
Settlers propel burning tires towards a Palestinian home, Feb. 5 2018. Palestinians learned that they can find themselves subject to settler violence at any time. The lack of accountability taught the settlers they can attack Palestinians with impunity.https://t.co/EFQo1nzo9X pic.twitter.com/yigLvfKuAf
— B'Tselem בצלם بتسيلم (@btselem) February 19, 2018
Yusuf’s Tomb was a flashpoint in Nablus with scores of Palestinians killed and wounded during clashes in the area in 1995. In 1996 nine Israeli soldiers were killed and after another was targeted in 2000 the army left the area.
#IOF shoot and injure three Palestinians during clashes that broke out after Jewish settlers protected by #IOF raided Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus city, in the occupied West Bank, last night.
(Photo from archive) pic.twitter.com/moFbGEqyhJ
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) January 31, 2018
Jews in Israel claim the site contains the tomb of a rabbi, however the site is part of an old mosque where Muslim scholar Yusuf Dweekat was buried.
An Israeli military brigade raided the site in December last year for the first time in 17 years.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
