Two Haredim were shot in the knee and in the hand while approaching Joseph's Tomb in Nablus overnight Sunday.
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The two men were taken to Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva for treatment and are in moderate condition.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said the Haredim had "arrived at an unmanned checkpoint at one of the entrances to Shechem, broke through it, and entered the city. After a short time, they arrived at another checkpoint with gunshot wounds, the circumstances of the incident are under investigation."
Re-enacting the incident, one of the Haredim said: "We drove to the Yosef Lookout after hearing Joseph's Tomb had been vandalized. We wanted to see the tomb mark from above.
"We were there for half an hour. We started driving toward Jerusalem, but then we took a wrong turn. We took a left instead of a right, and within a few minutes, we realized we had entered an Arab village. The driver quickly made a U-turn, but there was a terrorist who managed to fire at us with a weapon, six or seven bullets. The driver got us out of there, even though he was hit with three bullets."
Around a hundred Palestinian rioters on Sunday smashed the tombstone and set multiple fires at the tomb, revered as that of the biblical figure Joseph.
While the circumstances of the attack on the Israeli men remain unclear, it is believed to have been carried out by a Palestinian shooter. According to Palestinian reports, IDF forces detained a senior Palestinian security forces official in Nablus following the shooting.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said of the vandalism at Joseph's Tomb, "We will not come to terms with such an attack, in a place that is sacred to us, and on the eve of Passover," vowing to "find the perpetrators."
"I saw the pictures and was shocked," he said and assured the public the damage would be repaired.
IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Ran Kochav told Army Radio the rioters were apprehended by Palestinian security forces.
"We will not tolerate such an attack on a place that is holy for us, on the eve of Passover, and will reach the rioters. Of course, we will see to the rebuilding of what has been destroyed, just as we always do."
Defense Minister Benny Gantz called the vandalism of Joseph's Tomb "a grave event and a serious violation of freedom of worship in one of the holiest places for every Jew. It violates the feelings of the entire Jewish nation, especially when it occurs during the Muslim holy month.
"The State of Israel will take action to ensure that the site will be refurbished and quickly returned to its original condition. In addition, we will take all the measures necessary to prevent such incidents," he said.
Gantz said he had "delivered a strong message to the Palestinian Authority, demanding the immediate reinforcement of their officials on-site, and decisive action against rioters and terrorists that harm stability and security in holy places."
In yet another security incident in the Bethlehem area, security forces shot and killed a Palestinian who threw Molotov cocktails at Israelis driving on Highway 60.
A flashpoint sight, Joseph's Tomb is often targeted by rioters. In September 2021, dozens of Palestinians attacked a convoy of busses carrying Jewish worshippers to the sacred site. Two soldiers sustained minor injuries in the clash. In 2015, the tomb was torched by Palestinian rioters as tensions escalated amid near-daily stabbings of Israelis by terrorists.
In October 2000, terrorists attacked the tomb which had a small military presence, killing one Israeli soldier in the process. That same month, Israel evacuated the complex in an attempt to decrease violence in the area, and the Palestinian Authority vowed to return the tomb to its original state after the evacuation, and after the tensions had settled down.
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