A Palestinian journalist and a paramedic were injured by Israeli forces’ fire as they escorted Jewish settlers raiding Joseph’s Tomb in the northern occupied West Bank district of Nablus, on predawn Thursday.
Spokesperson of the Palestinian Red Crescent, Ahmad Jibril, said that a Palestine TV reporter, identified as Bakr Abed al-Haq, was injured with a rubber-coated steel bullet in the leg, while paramedic Yassin Imran was injured in the face during clashes that erupted between Israeli forces and locals near Joseph’s Tomb.
Updated: Israeli Soldiers Shoot A Journalist And A Medic In Nablus https://t.co/3w0DrqFoNw pic.twitter.com/9UwmMNNL8A
— KhamakarPress (@KhamakarPress) January 3, 2019
Abed al-Haq and Imran were both transferred to the Rafidiya Governmental Hospital for treatment.
Palestinian Red Crescent teams also treated an injured Palestinian on the spot, reporting his injury as light.
Journalist Abed al-Haq posted on his Facebook page that Israeli forces opened fire at him and his cameraman, Sameh Druzeh, both working for Palestine TV, along with a nearby paramedic, while standing away from clashes and wearing their press vests.
As Israeli Occupation THUGS raid Palestinian villages East of Westbank City of Nablus pre dawn under fire to snatch Palestinians from their beds, they target a paramedic in his face with 2 rubber bullets and a journalist in his leg.
Psychopaths at their best#BDS pic.twitter.com/pzAJQILgmP— Za'atar Akhdar (@Green_Thyme) January 3, 2019
He added that Israeli forces fired live bullets and rubber-coated steel bullet, pointing out that paramedic Yassin Imran was injured with two rubber-coated steel bullets in the face.
Dozens of locals also suffered tear-gas inhalation.
A Ma’an reporter said that Israeli soldiers escorted hundreds of Israeli settlers raiding Joseph’s Tomb to perform religious rituals.
Israeli forces went up rooftops of Palestinian homes in the area.
Israeli occupation forces storm Nablus and injure journalist Bakr Abdel Haq pic.twitter.com/5YUw7c0Yon
— صوت العاصفةمن غزة (@asefa2020) January 3, 2019
Joseph’s Tomb is revered by Jews, Muslims, Christians, and Samaritans alike. The Israeli military allows Jews to visit as part of organized pilgrimages, despite the site being located in Area A where the PA has full control, and prohibits Muslims from worshiping at the site.
Ultra-orthodox and nationalist Jews regularly try to visit the shrine without approval, as many Jews believe the tomb to be the final resting place of the biblical figure in the Old Testament.
(Ma’an, PC, Social Media)
