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Soldier shot while guarding visit to Joseph’s Tomb, six Hamasniks arrested
[IsraelTimes] An IDF soldier was shot and moderately wounded while guarding a group of religious Jews visiting the Joseph’s Tomb holy site, in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, early Thursday morning, the army said. The injured soldier was brought to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva for treatment and is currently in stable condition, an army spokesperson said.The shots were fired at the entrance to the Balata refugee camp, which is located a few blocks away from the tomb, on the outskirts of Nablus. “The circumstances of the incident are being investigated,” the army said in a statement. Local residents also rolled burning tires and threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at troops guarding the area. The forces responded with riot dispersal tactics, and the visitors were able to complete their prayers “as planned,” the army said. Some 16 buses full of visitors entered the Palestinian city early Thursday morning, according to the IDF. The military, along with the Border Police and Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, oversees such pilgrimages to Joseph’s Tomb every month. According to Jewish tradition, the biblical patriarch is buried in the tomb, while Muslims say a local sheikh is buried there. The tomb is located inside Area A of the West Bank, under complete Palestinian Authority control. The IDF bars Israeli citizens from entering Area A without authorization. While gunfire is relatively uncommon, local Palestinians regularly attack the soldiers guarding the visitors with rocks, firebombs and burning tires. In the early hours of Thursday morning, the IDF also arrested six suspected members of the Hamas terror organization in the West Bank. Four of them were arrested in the Hebron area, while the other two were picked up near Jenin, in the northern West Bank. Palestinian woman stopped at checkpoint, says she planned attack [IsraelTimes] A Palestinian woman was detained by security personnel at a West Bank crossing on Thursday night on suspicion that she planned to carry out a stabbing attack, police said. According to a police statement, the woman “raised the suspicions” of security guards at the Qalandiya checkpoint, who stopped the 21-year-old for questioning and a further search. During the check, the woman “admitted that she planned to carry out an attack and had thrown [away] the knife,” police said. A search of the area found the discarded knife nearby, and the woman was taken away for further questioning. There have been other attempted stabbing attacks at the Qalandiya checkpoint, a major crossing point between Jerusalem and the Qalandiya refugee camp north of the capital. Defense officials have pointed to a trend among some young Palestinian women who, often due to personal problems, have in recent months attempted to commit suicide by staging knife attacks against soldiers and police with the expectation that they will be shot. Posted by: trailing wife 2016-09-02 |
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