By Anees Barghouthy
RAMALLAH, Palestine
Hundreds of Jewish settlers stormed the flashpoint site of Joseph's Tomb in the north of occupied West Bank in the early hours of Wednesday and performed Talmudic rituals inside, a Palestinian activist said.
"At least 16 Israeli buses carrying 400 Jewish settlers arrived at the site and the latter performed Talmudic rituals under the protection of the Israeli army," local activist Ahmed Shamekh told The Anadolu Agency.
Clashes sparked in the site after dozens of Palestinians gathered to protested the incursion, he said.
"The Israeli soldiers fired teargas to disappear the angry youths," Shamekh added, noting that no injuries were reported among the Palestinian demonstrators.
Joseph's Tomb, located on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Nablus, has long been a flashpoint for potential violence between Jewish settlers and Palestinians.
Jews believe the site – a traditional flashpoint for violence – is the burial place of the biblical patriarch Joseph.
Muslims, however, challenge the claim, saying the tomb is the final resting place of a Muslim cleric – Sheikh Yussef Dawiqat – who died two centuries ago.
