Illegal Israeli settler injured by gunfire in occupied West Bank

By Anadolu staff

JERUSALEM (AA) – An illegal Israeli settler was injured by gunfire in the occupied West Bank, the military said on Wednesday.

A military statement said a bus carrying illegal settlers to Joseph’s tomb site in Nablus came under fire overnight, injuring the driver.

The army said the bus entered the area without coordination with the military, adding that the incident was under investigation.

Venerated by both Muslims (Palestinians) and Jews (Israelis), Joseph's tomb has long been a flashpoint for clashes between the Palestinians and illegal Israeli settlers.

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.

Tension has been running high across the occupied West Bank over Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, where more than 45,000 people, mostly women and children, have been killed.

At least 815 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 6,500 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Health Ministry.

In a landmark opinion on July 19, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land "illegal" and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar