Two Border Guard security personnel were lightly wounded while trying to control a mob of some 600 Palestinian Authority Arabs rioting Friday afternoon near Rachel’s Tomb.
Three of the rioters were allegedly shot in the legs with rubber bullets, according to the Hebrew-language 0404.co.il website.
The rioters burned tires and hurled firebombs and rocks at the Border Guards, who at first used standard crowd control methods but then allegedly opened fire when all else failed.
Security personnel succeeded in dispersing most of the mob but about 100 of the hard-core rioters remained into the early evening hours.
Hamas terrorists in Gaza have urged Arabs in Israel to riot and attack Jews in as many ways as possible, to encourage a budding third intifada.
The tomb of the Jewish matriach, one of the holiest sites in Judaism, is located on the outskirts of Bethlehem, barely five minutes south of Jerusalem.
Due to Palestinian Arab violence, Israeli authorities were forced to build high, strong walls around the once-modest tomb, transforming it into a virtual fortress in order to protect the Jews who visit the site to pray.