updates
Because of an Israeli license plate
German tourists attacked in the West Bank
03/18/2023, 10:17 p.m
For Israelis, the city of Nablus is taboo and entry is forbidden. However, tourists can visit the place, even if the Foreign Office, for example, strongly advises against it. Two German vacationers go there anyway – and their Israeli rental car becomes their undoing.
Palestinians attacked a car carrying two German tourists with stones in the West Bank city of Nablus. As several Israeli media reported, the two were traveling in a car sharing car with Israeli license plates. A military spokeswoman said they were slightly injured and received medical attention from Israeli soldiers after the incident. They were then handed over to the police. The German Embassy is aware of the process and is in contact with those affected, a spokesman said.
Ambassador Steffen Seibert but wrote on Twitter about the reports: “A mob that attacks tourists because they don’t like their license plate is disgusting and cowardly”. He thanked the Palestinian-Israeli citizen who rescued her “from the bottom of my heart”. According to the reports, the man is said to have helped the two tourists leave the city.
Entry banned for Israelis
A video shared on social media showed how around two dozen men and young people threw stones at a car on a busy road and initially violently prevented it from continuing in the slow-moving traffic. Additional footage shows that the Tel Aviv city logo and a sticker with an Israeli flag were affixed to the car.
Nablus is one of the autonomous Palestinian territories. Israelis are strictly forbidden to enter the country. Foreign tourists can visit the city. However, the Foreign Office “strongly advises against” traveling to the region around Nablus. The security situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories has been particularly tense for months. Further violence is feared during the Muslim month of fasting, Ramadan, which begins next week.