Pipe Bomb Found At Joseph’s Tomb As 1,200 Jewish Worshippers Arrive
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli soldiers found a pipe bomb hidden at the Jewish holy site of Joseph’s Tomb prior to the visit of 1,200 pilgrims.
The bomb was neutralized in a controlled explosion, according to the Israel Defense Forces, which had been carrying out a security check prior to the late Monday night visit.
Palestinian rioters burned tires and threw rocks at the soldiers guarding the tomb during the visit. The IDF said it used non-lethal dispersal methods to control the riot. Up to 12 Palestinian rioters were reported injured.
Joseph’s Tomb is holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians. Israeli Jews must receive permission to visit the purported burial place of the Jewish patriarch.
Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, the site was to remain under Israeli control, but the Israeli army evacuated the premises in October 2000 during the second intifada and the tomb was burnt down by Palestinians. It was renovated and restored, but then torched and vandalized again in October 2015.
Jewish worshippers, in coordination with the military, make monthly nocturnal pilgrimages to the refurbished site.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO