Days after rioting Palestinian residents of Nablus burned and severely damaged the Joseph’s Tomb near Nablus, construction teams restored the holy site in a rare daytime operation.
The renovation, carried out under military escort by the Samaria Regional Council, took three hours to complete and was the first time restoration work was carried out during daylight hours.
The site has been restored on multiple occasions after Palestinian vandals have destroyed it over the past two decades, but always overnight.
Rocks were hurled at the renovation crew as they entered the shrine.
After the crew left, clashes broke out in the area between Palestinians and security forces, and one Palestinian was killed.
Prayers took place at the tomb, which is believed to house the body of the biblical Joseph, early on Tuesday.
The head of the Samaria Regional Council, Yossi Dagan, said: “The barbaric rioters from the Palestinian Authority’s legacy knew very well why they were burning and destroying the tomb of Joseph the Righteous.”
Dagan also called on the government to reinstate full Israeli control over the holy site, and reestablish the Jewish seminary that once stood there.
“Only the people of Israel know how to ensure the preservation of its holy places,” Dagan concluded.
The site was vandalized twice within two days.
Palestinian youths carry an injured comrade during clashes with Israeli troops near the Jewish pilgrimage site of the Tomb of Joseph in Nablus in the West Bank on April 13, 2022. (AFP via Getty Images)
During the second incident on Monday, two Hassidic men were shot and injured trying to enter the site. Jewish Israelis are not allowed in the Palestinian territories, and worshipers to the Jewish holy site need an armed escort to pray there.
The incident came a day after Palestinians vandalized and torched the shrine. 100 Palestinians broke into the site, smashed the gravestone and set the room on fire.
Human rights lawyer and CEO of the International Legal Forum Arsen Ostrovsky slammed the international community, including the U.N.’s agency for preserving heritage sites, for their failure to condemn the vandalism.
“The attack by Palestinian vigilantes on Joseph’s Tomb, one of the holiest sites in Judaism, was a despicable act of desecration, made even more heinous coming on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Passover,” Ostrovsky told Breitbart.
“Where is the international outrage? Where is UNESCO? Only deafening silence,” he added.
Ostrovsky slammed the PA for the “flagrant violation” of its commitments to protect and preserve holy sites under the 1993 Oslo peace accords.
“Whereas Israel does everything to allow freedom of worship and protection of holy sites for Muslims, it is inexplicable and outrageous that the Palestinian leadership would turn its back and allow this kind of defilement, which is also a flagrant violation of international law and the Palestinian Authority’s commitments,” Ostrovsky told Breitbart.