If a stranger unfamiliar with the situation had shown up at Joseph’s Tomb on the night of Oct. 9, he would have a tough time understanding what was happening all around him. Vast military forces had taken up position across the southeastern outskirts of Nablus, one of the largest Palestinian cities in Samaria, in addition to all other positions in the area such as major intersections and along the access roads.

These troops had gathered around a small stone complex with a tiny prayer hall topped with a white-painted dome and surrounded by a portico covered with Jerusalem stone. Military rotorcraft with cameras and other secretive observation and intelligence devices hovered overhead, while snipers and lookouts were stationed throughout all the surrounding high ground. Huge forces — consisting of the military, police and border patrol — spread out along all the roads leading to the complex, which was still completely empty. The Shin Bet and other security services’ counterterrorism units, including the elite Mista’arvim (Infiltration) counterterrorism units, were also involved in this exhaustive Israeli intelligence effort to secure the location before the zero hour arrived.

This wasn’t some Israeli invasion of a major Palestinian city or even a large-scale operation to track down and arrest major terrorist suspects. The site in question was where — according to Jewish tradition — the bones of the biblical Joseph were buried after the ancient Israelites brought them from Egypt. It is one of the most sacred sites for Orthodox Jews, who are drawn to it by devout faith and feel an almost magnetic need to make pilgrimage to it, pray in the sanctuary and prostrate themselves before the tiny tomb. They do this while completely ignoring the dangers lurking around them.

Dozens of buses carrying hundreds of Jewish worshippers were scheduled to arrive at the site on the night of Oct. 9. The event began at 11 p.m. and continued until dawn. It was not just a one-off, as it is a ritual that repeats itself at least once a month.