Dozens of Palestinians and three Israelis injured in clashes around Nablus

June 30. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Dozens of Palestinians and three Israelis have been injured this Thursday in clashes with Israeli security forces after the arrival of dozens of settlers at the Tomb of Joseph, located on the outskirts of the West Bank town of Nablus.

The director of the Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance service in Nablus, Ahmad Jibril, has detailed that a young man has been injured by a bullet, while another 16 have been hit by rubber bullets fired by Israeli forces.

He also pointed out that another 40 Palestinians have been treated for respiratory problems due to tear gas inhalation, including four children and a baby who have been taken to a nearby hospital, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

On the other hand, he highlighted that another five people have suffered burns and two have been treated after suffering falls during the clashes, although all of them have received treatment at the scene and have not required hospitalization.

The Israeli Army has confirmed that “soldiers escorted hundreds of faithful to the Tomb of Joseph” and has denounced that “armed Palestinians fired intensely at the faithful, wounding two civilians and the commander of the Samaria Regional Brigade.”

“The soldiers responded against the source of the shots and removed the civilians from the area,” he said on his official account on the social network Twitter.

The head of the Samaria Regional Council, Yossi Dagan, has stated that the Israelis “will not relinquish control of the Tomb of Joseph”, according to the newspaper ‘The Times of Israel’. Dagan himself was in the area during the clashes.

Patriarch Joseph’s grave, located near the Balata refugee camp, is in an area controlled by the Palestinian Authority, which requires settlers to coordinate visits to the grave with security forces.

The site has been the scene of numerous incidents in the past due to visits to the tomb by settlers and ultra-Orthodox Jews, who believe it is where the remains of the Old Testament patriarch lie. Palestinians consider the site to be the tomb of a local religious figure.