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 Israel's military said about 100 people converged on the tomb of
the biblical patriarch Joseph, which is located in the Palestinian
city of Nablus. They were pushed back by Palestinian security forces
who arrived on site, but not before setting parts of it ablaze.
"We view this incident with gravity and strongly condemn any attack
on holy sites. We will find and arrest those who set the fire," the
military said in a statement.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in his clearest call yet to end
the renewed violence, condemned the attack. He ordered the damage to
be repaired and opened an investigation into the arson.
A statement from his office said Abbas "stressed his rejection of
these actions and all actions that violate law and order, and which
distort our culture, our morals and our religion."
 The unrest that has engulfed Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank,
the most serious in years, has claimed the lives of 33 Palestinians
and seven Israelis.
The Palestinian dead include 10 knife-wielding assailants, police
said, as well as children and protesters shot during violent
demonstrations. One man died in Gaza on Friday from wounds sustained
in a clash a week ago.
The Israelis were killed in random attacks in the street or on
buses. There was, however, a respite from the near-daily attacks on
Thursday.
The U.N. Security Council will hold a special meeting to discuss the
situation. No resolution is planned for Friday, but there might be
an attempt to get the council to issue a statement aimed at urging
the two sides to curb the violence.
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Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, called for "rallies of anger
and confrontations" on Friday in all West Bank cities.
The unrest has been triggered in part by Palestinians' anger over
what they see as increased Jewish encroachment on Jerusalem's
al-Aqsa mosque compound, which is also revered by Jews as the
location of two destroyed biblical Jewish temples.
The director-general of Israel's foreign ministry, Dore Gold, said:
"The burning of Joseph's tomb forcefully demonstrates what would
happen in the holy places in Jerusalem if they were in the hands of
the Palestinian leadership."
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said he plans to travel to
the Middle East soon to try to calm the violence.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was ready to meet
Abbas to help restore calm.
(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Ali Sawafta and Ari Rabinovitch;
Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
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