Israeli troops injure 11 Palestinians in Nablus

NABLUS, West Bank

Israeli troops injured 11 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Red Crescent said Wednesday.

In a news release, it said Israeli soldiers wounded five people with rubber bullets while six others were given medical care after suffering from tear gas, including a two-month-old child.

According to eyewitnesses, a brawl occurred between Palestinians and Israeli troops near Joseph’s Tomb in the West Bank city of Nablus while hundreds of Jews were getting ready for a ceremony.

Jews believe the site to be the burial place of the biblical patriarch Joseph. Muslims, however, challenge this claim, saying an Islamic cleric – Sheikh Yussef Dawiqat – was buried at the site two centuries ago.

*Writing by Ali Murat Alhas