Around 1,500 Israeli settlers entered the occupied West Bank city of Nablus early on Thursday under heavy military escort to pray at Joseph's Tomb, a site located inside a densely populated Palestinian neighbourhood and formally under Palestinian Authority control.
The visit marked a significant escalation in Israel's settler-backed campaign to impose new religious and political realities at Islamic and Palestinian-administered sites in the occupied West Bank.
Settler leaders openly framed the move as a step towards the Judaization of the site and the assertion of Israeli sovereignty, despite its location in Area A, where Israeli civilian access is prohibited under the Oslo Accords.
Joseph's Tomb, located inside the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, is regarded by Palestinians and Muslims as the burial place of a local Islamic religious figure, while Israeli authorities and settler groups invoke Jewish religious tradition to justify claims over the site despite its location under Palestinian administration.
Jewish settler incursions, which are often violent and provocative, frequently spark clashes with Palestinians, who view them as violations of existing agreements governing access to the city.
Thursday's prayer was exceptional, as worshippers performed the Jewish morning prayer known as Shacharit after sunrise. For around 25 years, Israeli authorities had restricted Jewish prayer at the site to nighttime visits only.
“This is a significant and important step towards ensuring the full return of the people of Israel and the State of Israel to this holy place,” said Yossi Dagan, head of the Shomron Regional Council, which administers Israeli settlements in the northern West Bank.
“For the first time in 25 years, Jews prayed in broad daylight at Joseph’s Tomb,” the council said in a statement, framing the move as a breakthrough amid growing settler efforts to impose new realities inside Palestinian cities.
Since the Israeli military withdrew from the site in 2000, Jewish worshippers have only been permitted to enter in organised groups escorted by Israeli troops, a restriction that implicitly acknowledged the site’s location inside a Palestinian city.
According to AFP, large groups of settlers were seen praying at the site on Thursday morning, some wearing tefillin, small leather boxes containing religious texts.
Around 25 buses carrying settlers and ultra-nationalists from West Bank settlements, as well as ultra-Orthodox Jews from inside Israel, arrived overnight under military escort.
Israeli media reported that the expanded access followed directives issued in December by Defence Minister Israel Katz, instructing the military to allow more frequent visits to the site and to extend access beyond nighttime hours.
Previously, buses were required to leave the area by 4:00 am, but on Thursday, they departed at around 7:00 am under armed escort.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and its settlements there are considered illegal under international law.
Palestinians say the growing frequency and visibility of settler incursions into cities such as Nablus reflect a broader strategy to normalise Israeli control, undermine Palestinian authority and alter the religious and political character of occupied territory.
An Israeli military spokesperson told AFP that the operation was carried out “according to the orders of the political echelon” and was not initiated by the army, adding that the military was acting on government instructions.