Fire broke out at the compound housing Joseph’s Tomb overnight, a religious site venerated by Jews, the Israel Defense Forces said. Palestinian forces dispersed alleged Palestinian arsonists and put out the fire.
Joseph’s Tomb is located in the city of Nablus, in the West Bank in an area under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority.
Judaism considers the site to be the resting place of the figure Joseph, son of Jacob, a high Israelite patriarch who, according to biblical accounts, was sold into slavery as a boy but then rose to become one of the most powerful figures in ancient Egypt, second only to the pharaoh.
Jewish devotees at times go to the tomb under IDF escort at night to pray. Christians also consider Joseph’s Tomb a holy site.
Barricading Nablus
A group of Palestinians had started a barricade to prevent Israeli troops from entering Nablus to destroy Palestinian homes, when a smaller group tried to set fire to the tomb, a Palestinian official told CNN under condition of anonymity. Part of the compound burned but the tomb itself remained intact, the official said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned “these kind of acts or any other acts that violate the law and order and offends our culture, religion, and morals,” according to the Palestinian official WAFA news agency. He formed a committee to investigate the fire.
IDF vows justice
The Israeli government vowed to restore the tomb compound, which has been the site of previous attacks, and find whomever set it alight.
“IDF will bring perpetrators to justice, restore the site & ensure that freedom of worship returns to Josephs Tomb,” IDF spokesman Peter Lerner tweeted.
There are Jewish settlements near Nablus, and one of them, Shavei Shomron, demanded on Friday that the IDF take over guardianship of the tomb.
Deadly resentments
Resentment has peaked in a spate of violence that has cost at least 42 lives in Israel and in occupied Palestinian areas in just a few weeks’ time.
Palestinian attackers have wielded knifes against Israeli civilians and police, and Israeli security forces have turned their guns on them, but they have also fired during protests that have turned riotous.
In the past month, eight Israelis died in 30 attacks with knives and other weapons that wounded many more. In the last two weeks, 34 Palestinians have been killed, including some who pulled knives.
But others have been shot in clashes with Israeli security forces, Palestinian authorities have said. More than 1,100 Palestinians have been injured.
The United States — consistently supportive of the right of Israelis to defend themselves and usually reserved in its criticism — has expressed concern about Israeli security forces using live ammunition in the face of rock-throwing Palestinian youths.
On Friday, the U.N. Security Council will meet over the unrest. The council holds monthly briefings on the situation in the Middle East, including the “Palestinian question.” The briefings usually touch any recent violence.
New kind of attack
The recent knife attacks have confounded Israeli authorities. They have spent millions to prevent suicide bombings with high concrete barriers or stop rockets flying in from Gaza with the high-tech “Iron Dome” anti-missile system.
But a knife is easy to obtain and carry into a crowd. Israeli authorities so far don’t believe the attacks are the result of any campaign of violence organized by militant groups.
Hamas, the militant group that rules over Gaza, has praised the attacks but not claimed responsibility for them.
It’s often young Palestinians who may be acting out alone or after being recruited or at least encouraged via social media, Israeli authorities have said.
Carry a gun
The attacks have contributed to an atmosphere of fear.
Many Israelis are changing the routes of their commutes, and many who have handgun permits are carrying their weapons. Others are applying for permits.
The Israeli government has even called for them to do so.
“The responsible civilian population — in the framework of the rule of law — has a part to play,” Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said Thursday morning. “We’ve urged Israelis to be vigilant. … Having the civilian population work closely with law enforcement is one of the keys in defeating this threat.”
In recent days, Israeli security forces have swiftly shot dead two Palestinian teenagers who attacked with knives. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of committing what he called “extrajudicial executions.”
A coalition of human rights organizations — including Amnesty International and the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories — has charged that police and soldiers are “too quick to shoot to kill,” while criticizing calls for civilians to carry weapons.
Destroy attackers’ homes
Israeli authorities have also shut down access to some Palestinian neighborhoods in east Jerusalem and put more police on the streets, according to police spokeswoman Luba Samri.
Isreal has also called up about 1,300 reserve border police officers and recruited 300 security guards for duties tied to public transportation, in light of several recent attacks on buses or at bus stops.
Israel’s government has also given the OK — after the legal process plays out, including possible appeals to Israel’s Supreme Court — to demolish attackers’ homes.
Cresting tensions
Palestinian resentments are as old as the 48-year Israeli occupation, but even with them, there have been times when Israelis and Palestinians have gotten along better.
Those times have since been buried by the Second Intifada, in which organized deadly attacks targeted Israelis, and three wars in Gaza that killed thousands of Palestinians.
On top of that powder keg, recent developments have made things worse.
Since the occupation began, an unwritten rule has said that Jews would not pray at the Temple Mount, one of the holiest sites in Islam and the holiest site in Judaism.
But in recent years, hardline Jewish activists have demanded greater access to the spot, and right-wing politicians have called for the rights of Jews to pray there.
The Palestinian representative to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, has accused Israeli security forces of escorting Jewish hardliners onto the Temple Mount and into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
Clashes at the site have become common.
Jewish settlements
Attempts by the United States to revive the Mideast peace process have fallen flat again and again for over a decade, with the most recent hopes being dashed last year, followed by the third Gaza war.
In the meantime, Israel has forged ahead with the construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, which cut crisscrossing furrows through Palestinian territory.
This week, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry talked about the boom.
“There’s been a massive increase in settlements over the course of the last years,” he said. “Now you have this violence because there’s a frustration that is growing, and a frustration among Israelis who don’t see any movement.”