TEL AVIV – About 20 Jewish pilgrims were arrested Sunday morning when they attempted to visit the Jewish holy site of Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus, the IDF said.
Four of them managed to reach the holy site before being arrested by Palestinian security forces and handed over to the IDF, Honenu, the legal action group representing the pilgrims, said. The group also claimed the four were beaten by Palestinian security personnel, with one even requiring medical treatment, which he was refused.
“Early in the morning, IDF received reports of 20 young Jews who entered Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus without first coordinating with the security forces,” the IDF said in a statement. “After being questioned, the suspects will be brought to the Petah Tikva Magistrate’s Court for a hearing.”
Israeli security forces arrested the rest of the Jewish group on the way to the tomb. The pilgrims were taken to an Israeli police station in the settlement of Ariel for further questioning.
According to the book of Joshua, Joseph was buried outside of the city of Shechem, or Nablus. As part of the 1993 Oslo Accords, access to Joseph’s Tomb was supposed to be given to Jews and Christians. However, after a series of attacks against Jewish pilgrims at the holy site by gunmen affiliated with then-Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat’s militias, then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak ordered a unilateral Israeli retreat from the area in October 2000.
Today, Jewish prayer at the site is limited to once a month during the middle of the night, with heavy security and IDF presence. However, Jewish pilgrims sometimes attempt to penetrate the site at other times. Palestinians often hurl rocks and other objects at worshipers during these visits.
In 2011, Palestinian Authority police officers in charge of security at Joseph’s Tomb opened fire on three cars driven by Jewish worshipers, killing a 25-year-old man and wounding four more.