1,000 Israelis enter Nablus overnight

Ma'an- Over 1,000 Israelis entered the West Bank city of Nablus overnight Sunday to visit Joseph's Tomb, witnesses and the army said.

Locals said Israeli forces imposed heavy restrictions on the site, where some believe the biblical figure Joseph was buried. Dozens of Israeli soldiers were deployed to the area and Huwwara checkpoint was closed, they said.

An Israeli military spokesman said forces coordinated the visit of 1,000 Israelis on around 20 buses. Witnesses said over 1,000 Israelis prayed at the site until Monday morning.

The Israeli news site Ynet reported that settlers asked the Israeli army to allow 40 buses to visit the tomb, in occupied Palestinian territory.

The report said the army refused due to fears that the settlers would barricade themselves in the tomb, as they have done on previous visits.

An army spokesman said the military had received a request for more than 20 buses, but that only 1,000 visitors were authorized.
‎‎
He said 20 Israelis were detained for trying to enter the tomb without coordination.

Ynet reported that settlers claimed to have attacked an army vehicle at the Tappuah junction near Nablus. Settlers told the news site that the officer left the area after Israeli youths surrounded and kicked his car.

Over the last decade, visits to Joseph’s Tomb have been coordinated by the army and Palestinian Authority security forces.

Under the Oslo accords, Nablus is in Area A and is part of the 17 percent of the West Bank under Palestinian Authority civil and security control, but the area around the tomb remains in Area C, under Israeli jurisdiction.