Two Palestinians were killed by IDF troops in the northern West Bank city of Nablus early Wednesday as the soldiers were guarding a group of Jewish worshipers on the way to pray at the Joseph’s Tomb holy site.
The army said troops opened fire after several explosive devises were thrown at the IDF force from a passing car.
“The IDF force responded with fire toward the vehicle. At the same time an IDF engineering vehicle hit the car, as a result the two attackers inside the vehicle were killed,” the army said, adding that there were no casualties to IDF forces or among the worshipers.
Joseph’s Tomb is located inside Area A of the West Bank, which is officially under complete Palestinian Authority control, though the Israeli military maintains overall security control there. The IDF bars Israeli citizens from entering Area A without prior authorization.
The site is venerated by Jews, Christians and Muslims, and has often been a flashpoint for sectarian violence. Jewish pilgrims are usually only allowed to visit the tomb once a month under heavy-armed guard. During these visits, Palestinians routinely throw rocks at the troops, and sometimes attack them with Molotov cocktails and gunfire.
Gaza has seen regular protests along the Israeli border for the past year, but new demonstrations in recent days have been much less to the liking of the Strip’s rulers, Hamas.
Over the course of several days beginning last week, hundreds of Palestinians gathered in multiple locations in protests against rising prices and in opposition to the Islamist group, which has controlled Gaza since 2007.
Hamas security forces cracked down harshly, beating protesters and arresting hundreds, rights groups say.
Demonstrations have since petered out, though organizers have called for fresh rallies in the coming days.
United Nations envoy Nickolay Mladenov on Sunday condemned a “campaign of arrests and violence” by Hamas security forces.
“The long-suffering people of Gaza were protesting the dire economic situation and demanded an improvement in the quality of life in the Gaza Strip,” said Mladenov, envoy to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
The protests are a rare internal challenge to Hamas, which has fought three wars with Israel since 2008.
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