Israeli soldier shot and wounded at West Bank shrine

JERUSALEM – An Israeli soldier was shot and wounded while guarding Jewish worshippers at a flashpoint West Bank prayer site on Thursday, the Israeli military said.

Shots fired from the direction of a nearby Palestinian refugee camp wounded the soldier who was securing the entrance to Joseph’s Tomb, according to the military.

Worshippers were being escorted to the shrine, which is located in the Palestinian city of Nablus, by soldiers for protection. The army said Palestinians threw rocks and rolled burning tires at the troops as they approached.

Some Jews believe the biblical Joseph is buried in the tomb, while Muslims say a sheikh is buried there. The army escorts Jewish worshippers to the site several times a year, in co-ordination with Palestinian security forces.

Later Thursday, the military said Israeli forces detained a 21-year-old Palestinian woman at a West Bank checkpoint who was found to be carrying a knife. She told soldiers that she had intended to carry out a stabbing attack, the military said.

Thursday’s incidents are the latest in a nearly yearlong wave of violence, with Palestinians carrying out deadly stabbings, shootings and attacks using cars to ram into Israeli civilians and security forces. Palestinians have killed 34 Israelis and two visiting Americans. Some 208 Palestinians have died during this time, most identified as attackers by Israel.

Israel says the violence is fueled by Palestinian incitement. The Palestinians say it is the result of frustrations after nearly 50 years of military occupation.