Israel settlers storm purported rabbi’s shrine in Lebanon

Israeli settlers escorted by the military stormed a tomb they claim belongs to a rabbi, in southern Lebanon on Friday.

The site, known as the Servants’ Tomb, is located on the outskirts of Houla, in southern Lebanon.

Israeli army radio reported that “hundreds of Hasidim arrived in the early morning hours to perform morning prayers at the tomb of Rabbi Ashi, for the first time,” adding that they did so “with the permission of the Israeli army and under the army’s protection”.

Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported that the group arrived at the tomb “under the cover of a “religious visit”, organised by the Israeli occupation forces to the site that the Zionists claim belongs to Rabbi Ashi”.

Footage circulated online showed crowds of settlers gathering around the tomb.

This comes after Israeli settlers conducted an overnight raid of Joseph’s Tomb in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus.

The group were escorted by Israeli soldiers, border police and police personnel.

Palestinians and Israelis dispute the religious significance of the site, with Palestinians believing it to be the burial site of a cleric who lived in the nearby Balata neighbourhood in the early 1900s.

Israelis claim the shrine contains the tomb of the Prophet Joseph, a figure revered in both Islamic and Jewish traditions.

Prior to Israel’s war on Gaza, groups of settlers would conduct monthly incursions to the tomb, which resulted in the killing of Palestinians by Israeli forces.

A clear violation

Israeli forces remain in five key positions in southern Lebanon despite the ceasefire agreement stipulating that troops must withdraw completely by 18 February.

Since the fragile ceasefire was implemented on 27 November, Lebanese authorities have reported over 1,000 Israeli violations of the agreement, resulting in the deaths of 84 people and injuries to over 280 others.

On Thursday, NNA reported that a number of people were wounded by Israeli fire in southern Lebanon’s Marjeyoun.

According to the report, Israeli forces opened fire on people who were collecting scrap metal – some were subsequently transferred to hospital for treatment.

Also on Thursday, the Lebanese army warned that continued assaults by Israeli forces “threatens Lebanon’s stability and negatively impacts regional stability, in clear violation of the ceasefire agreement”.

“The Israeli enemy continues its assaults on Lebanon’s sovereignty by land, sea, and air, the latest of which includes a series of targeted attacks on civilians in the south and the Bekaa region (in the east), along with its ongoing occupation of Lebanese territory and repeated violations of land borders,” the army said in a statement.