Settlers, Palestinians, soldiers clash in northern West Bank overnight

IDF oversees entrance of tens of thousands of Palestinian worshipers into Jerusalem for Laylat al-Qadr prayers on the Temple Mount

Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's religions and Diaspora affairs correspondent.

Illustrative: Israeli soldiers search the area around the West Bank city of Nablus on January 11, 2018, as part of a manhunt after the perpetrators of a lethal terror attack outside a nearby settlement. (Israel Defense Forces)
Illustrative: Israeli soldiers search the area around the West Bank city of Nablus on January 11, 2018, as part of a manhunt after the perpetrators of a lethal terror attack outside a nearby settlement. (Israel Defense Forces)

Clashes broke out between residents of the Yitzhar settlement in the northern West Bank and Palestinians from a nearby village overnight, the army said Tuesday.

Soldiers from the Samaria Regional Brigade were called to the scene.

“A number of Palestinians began throwing rocks at the troops who responded with riot dispersal means and with warning shots in the air. The gathering dispersed,” the army said.

The clashes came in a period of heightened tensions, ahead of a planned eviction of 15 illegally built homes in the Netiv Ha’avot outpost in the central West Bank and during the Sunni Muslim Laylat al-Qadr holy day. (Shiite Muslims celebrate it on a different date.)

Separately, Israeli troops arrested a Palestinian youth who was throwing rocks in the West Bank city of Hebron, the army said.

He was handed over to the Shin Bet security service for questioning.

Also in Hebron, the army oversaw the entrance of some 10,000 Muslim worshipers into the Tomb of the Patriarchs holy site for evening prayers, the army said.

Thousands of Palestinians enter Jerusalem for Laylat al-Qadr prayers on the Temple Mount on June 11, 2018. (Israel Defense Forces)

In addition, Israel allowed the entrance of over 91,000 Palestinians into Jerusalem overnight for prayers on the Temple Mount, the IDF said.

Laylat al-Qadr, known in English as the Night of Fate or Night of Decree, comes toward the end of the month of Ramadan. It traditionally marks the night that the Quran was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, though there is disagreement if the entire scripture was revealed or only the first verses. The holiday is commemorated by all-night prayers as it is believed that the gates of heaven are opened, in the Muslim tradition.

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