A general view of Joseph’s Tomb in the West Bank city of Nablus. Photo: Nasser Ishtayeh / SOPA Images/Sipa USA via Reuters

Israeli forces exchanged fire on Wednesday night with armed Palestinians in the West Bank city of Nablus, the military said, while securing the entrance of Jewish worshippers into Joseph’s Tomb.

Some 1,000 worshippers visited the religious site, according to local media, a longtime flashpoint that has seen multiple clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants, and was vandalized by Palestinian rioters earlier this year.

In response, “armed Palestinians hurled explosive devices and fired toward the soldiers, endangering their lives,” the military said. Troops responded with live fire and identified hits, though the military did not specify how many.

While no Israeli injuries were reported, Palestinian sources said Ahmed Daraghmeh, 23, was killed in the overnight exchange, and five other Palestinians wounded.

Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, the IDF’s international spokesperson, noted on Thursday that Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip and has been blacklisted as a terrorist organization by Israel, the US, and the European Union, posthumously celebrated Daraghmeh “as a holy martyr.”

Israeli forces earlier faced gunfire during three attacks in the Nablus area on Tuesday, which were claimed by a newer Palestinian armed faction, Lion’s Den, but resulted in no injuries, local media reported.

Israeli military activity continued in the West Bank on Thursday, with Israeli forces apprehending a suspect with five handguns in his possession in the Jordan Valley area, near the town of al-Auja, around four miles from the Jordanian border.