Status: 12/22/2022 1:44 p.m
Shortly before Christmas, fears of renewed violence in the Middle East grew: clashes with the Israeli army broke out again at Joseph’s Tomb in the West Bank. A Palestinian died.
Shortly before Christmas, clashes broke out again between Palestinians and the Israeli army in the West Bank. A Palestinian died and three other people were injured, some seriously, at the so-called Joseph’s Tomb, according to Israeli media reports.
Palestinian media put the number of injured at over 20. There was an exchange of gunfire when the Israeli army tried to secure a visit by a Jewish group to the site revered as the tomb of the biblical progenitor Joseph in the Palestinian city of Nablus.
23-year-old footballer dies
Palestinian authorities identified the victim as a 23-year-old soccer player from the town of Tubas, north of Nablus. According to Israeli reports, it is unclear whether he was involved in the clashes.
According to a report by the Palestinian news agency “Wafa”, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh called on the world football association Fifa to condemn the killing of the young man. He also called on international human rights organizations to take responsibility to “stop the Israeli killing of Palestinians” and “hold the Israeli occupation accountable for their crimes,” it said.
enclave in Palestinian territory
Joseph’s Tomb is officially in the West Bank’s A-areas under Palestinian control. The Israeli army has coordinated and secured visits by Jewish worshipers at specific times, with frequent clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians.
According to the Oslo Accords, the tomb was to remain under Israeli administration as an enclave in Palestinian territory. However, after a Palestinian attack on Israeli soldiers at the tomb in the fall of 2000, the Israeli army abandoned the monument. Devout Jews continue to make pilgrimages to their patriarch’s tomb in Nablus to pray.
Deadliest year since 2006
The memorial is around 100 kilometers from Bethlehem. There one looks with concern at the new spiral of violence. Thousands of Christians travel to Bethlehem in the West Bank for Christmas to celebrate. To do this, they often pass numerous checkpoints.
The already tense situation in the occupied Palestinian territories had deteriorated further after Nasser Abu Hamid, one of the founders of the militant al-Aqsa brigades, died in Israeli security captivity of complications from cancer on Tuesday. Israel’s interim defense minister, Benny Gantz, announced yesterday that the body would not be handed over to the Palestinians, but would be held for the purpose of negotiating the repatriation of Israeli hostages and missing persons.
According to official figures, 31 Israelis have been killed in attacks since the beginning of the year. During the same period, 171 Palestinians were killed in clashes with the Israeli army and in attempted attacks. This makes 2022 the deadliest year since 2006.