Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Israeli Soldier Shot While Guarding Jews at Flashpoint Joseph’s Tomb

JERUSALEM — An Israeli soldier was shot while protecting worshippers at Joseph’s Tomb in the West Bank city of Nablus.

He was taken to a hospital in central Israel where he is in stable condition, the army said.

Some 16 buses of worshipers arrived at Joseph’s Tomb early Thursday morning. Their IDF escort was attacked by firebombs, rocks and burning tires, the army said. The injured soldier was struck by live fire which came from the nearby Balata refugee camp.

Joseph’s Tomb is also holy to Muslims and Christians. Israeli Jews must receive permission to visit the purported burial place of the Jewish patriarch; the visits must be coordinated with the Israel Defense Forces. Nablus is under military and civilian control of the Palestinian Authority.

Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, the site was to remain under Israeli control. The Israeli army evacuated the premises in October 2000 during the second intifada and it was burnt down by Palestinians. It was renovated and restored, but then torched and vandalized again last October.

Jewish worshippers, in coordination with the IDF, make monthly nocturnal pilgrimages to the refurbished site.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.