Police near Rachel's Tomb
Photo: Courtesy of Our Mother Rachel Institution)
Israeli soldier wounded by explosive device near Rachel's Tomb
Border Guard force attacked while trying to disperse crowd of rioters on Palestinian side of key Bethlehem religious site.
A Border Guard soldier was injured in a riot near Rachel's Tomb on Tuesday. Some 40 locals arrived at the compound in the evening and began hurling rocks and Molotov cocktails at security forces near the Palestinian side of the complex.
A team of Border Guard soldiers approached the rioters when an improvised explosive was thrown towards the Israelis, lightly wounding a trooper in his leg. The force began searching the area for the suspects and dispersing the rioters using crowd control measures.
Border Guard units searching near Rachel's Tomb (Photo: Border Guard)
In March, two Border Guard soldiers were wounded during Palestinian riots in a refugee camp near Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem.
In January, two security incidents occurred in the same day. One Israeli was wounded from the detonation of a pipe bomb at the religious site, while earlier Palestinians threw an improvised grenade at a military base near Bethlehem. There were no casualties and no damages.
In the months leading up to the January incident, dozens of incidents involving improvised explosives were reported.
