Israel holds first morning prayer at West Bank's Joseph’s Tomb in 25 years
Israeli forces set up a large-scale military cordon east of Nablus in the occupied West Bank to secure a raid on the site of Joseph’s Tomb, so that Jewish morning prayers could be held for the first time since 2000.
Members of the Israeli parliament, far-right officials and settler leaders participated in the storming of the site on early Thursday morning, under the heavy protection of armed forces.
Last month, Israeli authorities reached an agreement to allow daylight prayers at the site, despite the tomb being located near Nablus, which is nominally under Palestinian Authority administrative control.
Joseph’s Tomb was previously restricted by Israel to night visits only since the outbreak of the Second Intifada.
However, since October 2023, the site has been subjected to larger and more frequent settler-led incursions, with groups entering the area alongside Israeli forces under religious pretexts.
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Videos captured in the city's eastern neighbourhoods, including Amman Street, show the military expelling journalists from the area, as well as forcing families out of their homes to make way for the storming.
Some homes and residential buildings near to Joseph’s Tomb were turned into military barracks by the army, with snipers positioned on rooftops.
Medical teams were also prevented from being present in the area.
طرد الصحفيين وإجبار عائلات على إخلاء منازلها خلال اقتحام شارع عمّان في مدينة نابلس، لتأمين اقتحام المستوطنين لقبر يوسف pic.twitter.com/dNvsNmNflN
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) January 29, 2026
Translation: "Expelling journalists and forcing families to evacuate their homes during the raid on Amman Street in the city of Nablus, in order to secure the settlers' storming of Joseph's Tomb."
Further footage captures dozens of Israelis performing Talmudic rituals inside the site, amid military presence.
Over the past two years, settler violence and access restrictions have surged across the West Bank, leading to the forced displacement of 2,200 Palestinians from their homes, according to the UN.
This comes in addition to more than 6,000 people displaced due to home demolitions, and a further 40,000 displaced from northern West Bank refugee camps during Israeli military assaults.
Growing Israeli control under religious pretexts
Since 1967, control over Joseph’s Tomb has been a focus of Israeli ambitions, and has been met consistently with fierce Palestinian resistance.
The tomb holds symbolic and religious significance for both Palestinians and Jews, each presenting counter-narratives about the site's history and meaning.
Palestinians believe it is the burial place of Sheikh Yousef Dweikat, a local cleric who lived in nearby Balata in the early 1900s.
Israelis maintain that the shrine contains the tomb of the Prophet Joseph, a figure revered in both Islamic and Jewish traditions.
In the 1980s, an Israeli yeshiva was established at the site and heavily guarded by Israeli forces.
Settlers regularly organised visits under military protection, often passing through densely populated Palestinian areas.
Palestinians, accusing settlers of fabricating religious pretexts to extend Israeli control over the city, frequently confronted these incursions.
Israeli forces routinely opened fire at unarmed Palestinians during such protests, killing many over the years.
By 2000, the Israeli army abandoned its permanent post at the tomb. However, it continued organising monthly settler visits from across the West Bank.
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