Clashes erupt after Israeli settler raid on tomb site in Nablus

RAMALLAH, Palestine

Illegal Israeli settlers stormed the Joseph tomb site in the West Bank city of Nablus on Wednesday, according to witnesses.

The settlers entered the site under police protection and performed religious rituals there, the witnesses said.

Angry Palestinian residents hurled stones at Israeli police forces, which responded by using live fire and tear gas canisters to disperse them, they added.

No injuries were reported.

Venerated by both Muslims and Jews; Joseph's tomb has long been a flashpoint for clashes between the Palestinians and Israeli settlers.

Jews believe the site to be the burial place of the biblical patriarch Joseph. Muslims, however, challenge this claim, saying an Islamic cleric – Sheikh Yussef Dawiqat – was buried at the site two centuries ago.

Tension has been high across the occupied West Bank due to Israel’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 42,700 people, mostly women and children, since last year following a Hamas attack.

At least 760 Palestinians have since been killed and over 6,250 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Health Ministry.

The escalation follows a landmark opinion last July by the International Court of Justice that declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land "illegal" and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar