Police: 20 arrested for illegal visit to Joseph’s Tomb
According to police, the IDF received a report of the 20 men entering the Jewish holy site and afterwards the men were arrested.
By ELIYAHU KAMISHERIsrael Police patrol car [File](photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Police arrested 20 young men and minors after they visited Joseph’s Tomb in the West Bank city of Nablus early Sunday morning without necessary permits and security coordination, police said.According to police, the IDF received a report of the 20 men entering the Jewish holy site and afterwards the men were arrested.“The 20 young adults and minors were arrested for investigation on suspicion of violating a legal order and entering a closed area without a permit, posing a real risk to their lives and the lives of the security forces.”Nablus, which is built on the site of the ancient Biblical city of Shehem, is located in Area A of the West Bank, which is exclusively administer by the Palestinian Authority.The IDF forbids entry of Jewish Israeli to area. Together with the Samaria Regional Council it allows for Jewish worshipers to enter the city and pray at the Tomb once a month in the middle of the night.But worshipers often sneak into the city to pray at the Tomb. In April 2011, PA police fired at a group of such worshipers as they drove away, killing Ben-Yosef Livnat, 25.Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report