Palestinians torch Joseph's
Tomb ahead of 'rage' day

By Kim Hjelmgaard | USA Today | October 16, 2015

Palestinian protester uses a slingshot to throw stones toward Israeli soldiers during clashes near the border fencePalestinians late Thursday set fire to a religious site in the West Bank revered by some Jews as the tomb of biblical patriarch Joseph.

In a separate incident Friday, a Palestinian impersonating a journalist stabbed an Israeli solider.

The attacks came as the militant group Hamas called for a "day of rage" against Israel to begin following afternoon prayers.

Palestinian security forces extinguished the blaze early Friday at Joseph's Tomb, a small stone structure in the West Bank city of Nablus.

The tomb has become a popular prayer site in recent years among some religious Jews.

An Israeli soldier grabs a Palestinian's hand holding a knife after he stabbed another Israeli soldier in the West Bank. The Palestinian man wearing a yellow Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israel's Defense Forces, said the "burning and desecration of Joseph's Tomb (was) a blatant violation and contradiction of the basic value of freedom of worship."

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack and called for an investigation.

Separately, the IDF said that one of its soldiers was stabbed in Kiryat Arba, a town on the outskirts of Hebron. The soldier was lightly wounded and the assailant, who was disguised as a news photographer, was shot on site, the IDF said.

The Palestinian man had been wearing a T-shirt with the word "press" written on it.

The two incidents arrived at a time of heightened tensions between Israel and the Palestinians.

Eight Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks over the last month, the majority of them as a result of stabbings.