ונדליזם בקבר יוסף בשכם

An IDF reserve unit made up of Samaria residents, the Samaria Regional Battalion, on Wednesday night entered Joseph's Tomb, where they held a military inspection marking the end of a training exercise.

Since the IDF withdrew from Joseph's Tomb in 2000, there have been no military inspections or end-of-training celebrations held at the site.

The battalion was created after the IDF decided that the best way to protect Samaria residents in an emergency is to have the residents themselves protect their homes.

Upon entering the area, the soldiers noticed that the site had been vandalized by local Arabs. Windows had been pulled out and broken, light fixtures had been destroyed, and more.

Samaria Regional Council Head Yossi Dagan, who entered the site together with the soldiers, said, "It is infuriating how they destroy this site time after time. The State of Israel must understand that the Palestinian Authority cannot and does not want to maintain this place for us. It is the job of the State of Israel to maintain sites which are holy to the Jewish nation."