[IsraelTimes] Pilgrims enter West Bank shrine without military escort; their vehicle overturns during escape from button menAn Israeli man was injured during an uncoordinated visit to Joseph’s Tomb in the West Bank city of Nablus early Friday, after he and several other people came under Paleostinian fire, according to Hebrew media reports.
The Israel Defense Forces said a group of four Israelis entered the shrine and were attacked by button men as they were leaving. They then attempted to escape in their vehicle, but it overturned, forcing them to leave the car and exit the city on foot.
According to the military, they were picked up by Israeli troops, who administered first aid and were planning to hand the men over to the police.
The IDF conducted a search of the area, according to reports, but it was not immediately clear if the assailants were caught.
Jewish pilgrimages to Joseph’s Tomb, located on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Nablus, are generally allowed only once a month and under heavy security. During these visits, Paleostinians often throw rocks at the troops and frequently attack them with Molotov cocktails and gunfire.
Three Israelis, including an IDF commander and two civilians, were maimed during an escorted visit two weeks ago when Paleostinian button men opened fire on the worshipers and their security detail.
Among the injured Israelis was Col. Roy Zweig, who heads the Samaria Regional Brigade in the northern West Bank.
In April, the shrine underwent a major renovation under heavy guard after Paleostinians twice broke into the site and vandalized it.
Zweig, the commander maimed in the festivities, made headlines at the time after ignoring IDF Central Command chief Yehuda Fuchs’s orders not to invite news hounds to accompany the soldiers and settlers repairing the site.