Hundreds of Israeli settlers at dawn Friday stormed Awarta village in Nablus under army cover and held sacrilegious rituals at holy shrines.

Quds Press reported that a number of Israeli buses accompanied by Israeli army vehicles arrived in the western area of Awarta carrying hundreds of settlers.

Israel’s TV channel Seven said that about 450 Israeli settlers and army officers visited the so-called Eleazar Bin Harun shrine and performed Talmudic rituals.

Local residents said that the Israeli occupation forces cleared the way for the settlers to break into the shrines and cordoned off the village sparking tension in the area.

Dozens of Palestinian youths protested the provocative break-in by throwing stones at the Israeli forces who heavily fired live ammunition and teargas bombs at them.

Awarta has 12 Islamic shrines which are frequently defiled by Israeli settlers under ideological political or religious cover in an attempt to pave the way for a complete Israeli takeover of the area.

Scores of Israeli settlers broke on Thursday morning into the northern West Bank village of Ourata southeast of Nablus under army cover and held rituals at holy Islamic sites.

Eye-witnesses said the Israeli army cleared the way for the settlers to break into the village and cordoned off holy shrines.

The Israelis performed sacrilegious rituals at Palestinian holy shrines sparking tension in the area.