NABLUS, August 2, 2018 (WAFA) – Hundreds of Israeli settlers early Thursday forced their way into Joseph’s Tomb in the northern West Bank city of Nablus under heavy Israeli military protection, sparking clashes with Palestinians, said security sources.

A convoy of buses packed with hundreds of fanatic Jewish settlers broke into the site, located in the Palestinian-controlled area, where they performed religious rituals as Israeli forces secured the road and location for them.

Palestinian residents protested the raid and attempted to block settlers’ access to the site, hurling stones and empty bottles at the buses.

Israeli forces opened fire at the protestors, injuring a 30-year-old man with a rubber-coated steel bullet in the right thigh and left leg.

Soldiers also hurled a tear gas canister towards a 22-year-old Palestinian while driving his car in the area, causing him to sustain several injuries across his body. He was rushed to Rafidia Hospital for treatment.

Several protestors suffocated from tear gas inhalation. They received first aid treatment at the scene.

Settlers repeatedly break into Joseph’s Tomb, located in a densely Palestinian populated area in Nablus, provoking chaos and confrontation with local residents.

The site of Joseph’s Tomb is contentious. Palestinians believe the site to be the funerary monument to Sheikh Yousef Dweikat, a local religious figure, while Israeli settlers believe it belongs to the Biblical Patriarch Joseph.

K.F./M.K.