Overnight on August 3rd, 2026, Jews flocked to one of the oldest holy sites in Israel, Joseph’s Tomb. Judea and Samaria has faced a renewed, bloody wave of terror attacks carried out by Arabs in recent weeks, including tonight, when local Arabs threw rocks at the bus reporters were on. Joseph’s Tomb is a very holy site located in a very bad neighborhood. Yet, worshippers told C14 they were not deterred from making the journey. “Nothing to be afraid of. We’re here. This is our land, and it’s always going to be our land,” one worshipper said. Another added that the only fear worshippers hold is religious reverence: “We don’t really scared, just from the God, we’re scared.”
According to sources as far back as Genesis 33:18, Joseph’s Tomb has a documented history of Jewish ownership spanning over 3,000 years, predating the emergence of Islam by roughly 1,500 years. After Joseph rose to power in Egypt, the Jewish people vowed to bring his bones back to his homeland for burial one day, and they made good on that promise during the Exodus from Egypt. In Joshua 24:32 it says, “As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor…for a hundred pieces of money. It became an inheritance for the descendants of Joseph.”
Although the site remained under Jewish control for a period after the failed Oslo Accords, it was transferred to the ‘Palestinian’ Authority in the year 2000. Today, nearly every organized Jewish visit requires large IDF security protection. Joseph’s Tomb has been attacked by Arabs, burnt and vandalized, multiple times over the last years. The tomb has repeatedly required restoration after such violence.
HISTORIC: Tonight, thousands of Jews are praying at Joseph’s Tomb in Israel’s heartland. Under heavy IDF escort, people told us they feel safe, despite the recent wave of Arab terror attacks in the region.
On the way, local Arabs threw stones which hit our reporters’ bus.… pic.twitter.com/tGa4lfAa1Z
— C14 News | EN (@c14english) August 4, 2026
While ‘Palestinians’ seek to appropriate and erase Jewish history through historical, religious, and archeologically significant sites, Jews tonight were not fazed, and IDF soldiers were in good spirits as they mingled with dancing and praying worshippers, who were both visibly religious and not.
Among those praying at the site was the mother of Avinatan Or, the last hostage to return from Gaza after 738 days in captivity. She said she came to the site to give thanks for what she described as the miracles surrounding her son’s return. Worshippers continued arriving by bus through the night, telling C14 they were praying for the success and peace of the State of Israel.