Kushagra Bansal – Mumbai Uncensored, 14th April 2022
Tensions in West Bank have risen during the holy time of Ramadan as it converges with major Christian and Jewish holy days. Last year, protests end up to 11 days during Ramadan.
Israeli forces have been on high alert since late March when 3 members of the Arab minority and 2 Palestinians have killed 14 people in Israel.
On Sunday, during the riots, Israeli forces killed one woman who injured a border officer in Hebron with a knife. One woman was shot in Bethlehem after she ignored the warnings of the officer to stop approaching them. No weapons were found on her.
During the riots, assailants destroyed and burnt the remains of Joseph’s Tomb which is believed by Jews to be the resting place of biblical Joseph, where as Muslims believe it to be the burial place of a Sheik. Israeli army, in coordination with Palestinian forces escorts hundreds of pilgrims there every year.
According to Israel Defense spokesman Brig. Gen. Ran Kochav, around 100 Palestinians rushed into the property overnight, rioted, and set it ablaze before being dispersed by Palestinian security forces and smashing artefacts inside.
Rioters came in the shrine amid clashes between Palestinian forces and Israeli soldiers near Balata refugee camp in the Jenin area.
More than 20 Palestinian militants have been killed by Israeli forces since January, indicated by rise in violence in the West Bank by Israeli settlers.
There have been Israeli raids in West Bank city of Jenin, a militant stronghold, where on Sunday, soldiers fired on 2 brothers of an assailant in a vehicle who attacked and killed three people in Tel Aviv on Thursday. The assailant himself was shot and killed by soldiers on Thursday. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called the attack in Tel Aviv “a new wave of terrorism”.
The Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began this week, has been a flashpoint of violence in Al-Aqsa, which is located in a section of Jerusalem that Israel took along with the West Bank in the 1967 war.
Muslims see the compound as the Noble Sanctuary, while Jews regard it as Temple Mount, the site of two Biblical Temples.
