Palestinian ‘Day of Rage’ Adds to Fear of What’s Coming Next

— -- ABC News’ Alex Marquardt was in Bethlehem today during dramatic clashes as Palestinians called for another “day of rage.”

“The violence that we’re seeing now is not on a mass scale,” Marquardt reported.

Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli Arabs and Israeli forces have been escalating all week long, as Palestinians overnight torched Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus. The site, which is revered by some Jews as the tomb of biblical patriarch Joseph, was severely damaged by firebombs.

As today’s midday prayers came to a close, fights erupted again. Marquardt reported live as Israeli forces fired tear gas and protesters and bystanders ran from the streets looking for safety. “The frequency of these clashes, they are picking up. These are happening on a near daily basis, and all across the West Bank and even East Jerusalem,” he reported. “As people worry that this could turn into something bigger; that this isn’t just your normal, regular, cycle of violence.”

The U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting today to address the escalating situation.