One person was reported dead and several wounded in clashes that erupted in Shechem (Nablus) on Wednesday night after Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists attacked Jewish worshippers and their military escort at Joseph’s Tomb.
In addition to being fired upon, Israeli forces were attacked with explosives and stones, according to the Israel Defense Forces. The soldiers responded with live fire and riot dispersal measures, and several hits were identified.
The Palestinian Health Ministry reported that one person was killed and at least four wounded in the exchange, two seriously. The Palestinian Red Crescent identified the casualty as Egyptian citizen Bader Sami Rabhi, 19.
The Nablus battalion of the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad terrorist group, said its members were “fighting the occupation forces and groups of settlers who had stormed the area of Joseph’s Tomb,” the Reuters news agency reported.
Among the visitors to the tomb on Wednesday night was Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai, the first serving police chief to visit the site since the establishment of the state, according to Israeli media reports.
Police said that Shabtai had met earlier with the family of Moshe Klinerman, a teenager who went missing in March 2022, and accompanied them to the tomb.
Four terror suspects were arrested overnight in separate operations in Judea and Samaria, and weapons and ammunition were confiscated, according to the military.