A group of around 20 Jews were arrested in the wee hours of Sunday morning as they tried to reach the Tomb of Joseph, the Biblical patriarch whose remains are buried in the city of Shechem. (There is a tradition that states the first day of the Hebrew month of Tamuz, which falls on June 25 (Sunday), is the anniversary of the date of Joseph’s death.)
Shechem is located in Area A, which under the Oslo Accords was placed under the security and administrative control of the Palestinian Authority.
Among those detained were some minors, according to a statement by the IDF.
“Early in the morning, IDF received reports of 20 young Jews who entered Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus without first coordinating with the security forces,” the statement said.
“The suspects, young adults and minors, were arrested and taken for questioning on suspicion of violating a legal order and entering a closed zone without a permit while endangering their own lives and those of security forces.
“After being questioned, the suspects are to be brought to the Petach Tikva Magistrate’s Court for a hearing,” the IDF added.
Visits to Joseph’s Tomb by Israelis are supposed to be pre-authorized and coordinated with the IDF, which this group did not do. They were detained at an Israeli police station in the Samaria city of Ariel.
The legal defense group Honenu, representing the detainees, said four members of the group who succeeded in reaching the Tomb were immediately arrested by Palestinian Authority security forces. Honenu contends they were beaten before being handed over to the IDF, and said one of the four was denied medical treatment.