Illustrative: Israeli forces gather at the scene of a shooting attack near a Jewish outpost, near Nablus, in the West Bank, December 16, 2021. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
JNS.org — Palestinian terrorists overnight Tuesday shot and lightly wounded an Israeli bus driver bringing Jewish pilgrims to Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus (Shechem) in the West Bank.
The gunmen opened fire on the bus as the driver was leaving the area after dropping off some two dozen pilgrims, the army said.
The IDF dispatched troops to extract the driver and the pilgrims, who did not coordinate the trip in advance with the military.
IDF soldiers provided medical treatment to the bus driver and the civilians were safely evacuated.
The IDF said that the incident is under investigation and all of the civilians involved have been transferred for further questioning by the Israel Police.
Before Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, Orthodox Jews regularly visited Joseph’s Tomb under IDF protection, with clashes often breaking out during the visits.
Israeli citizens are barred from entering Nablus, which is designated as part of Area A per the Oslo Accords (under full Palestinian Authority security and administrative control), without prior consent.
Last week, three Israelis were shot and lightly wounded on their way to pray at the Joseph’s Tomb compound. The three men, members of the Breslov sect of Chassidic Judaism, had entered Nablus after driving through an Israeli military checkpoint and fled after being fired on, later seeking medical attention at Hadassah Medical Center on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem, where police subsequently detained them.
In June, a haredi Jew sustained minor wounds in a Palestinian attack as he tried to enter Nablus to pray at the tomb site on the outskirts of the city.
In March, Jewish worshipers who entered Shechem to pray at Joseph’s Tomb were fired on as they exited the city.
