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Other, May 13, 2021

Jewish man shot, soldier viciously beaten, as Arab violence against Jewish citizens continues to spiral

Original source

The Jerusalem Post

Arab violence against Jewish citizens continued to spiral on Thursday, with at least one Jewish man shot by live fire in Lod, and an IDF soldier severely assaulted by rioters in Jaffa.

Footage in which live gunfire can be heard emerged from the mixed Arab - Jewish Ramat Eshkol neighborhood Lod, and a young man sustained a gunshot wound in his lower body.

The police said he was lightly injured.

In Jaffa, a 19-year-old soldier was severely injured hospitalized after being attacked by violent rioters in the city on Thursday afternoon, sustaining skull fractures and internal bleeding during the assault.

A Magen David Adom paramedic said the soldier had been found sitting on the sidwalk, fully conscious but bleeding from head wounds, and that that he had told the MDA team that he was attacked with rocks and pepper spray.

Dr. Sharon Greenberg at Ichilov hospital said the soldier had been taken to the trauma center where scans revealed the fractures to the skull, and internal bleeding.

Another Jewish man was stabbed near a mosque in Lod while on his way to a synagogue on Thursday morning, Lod Mayor Yair Revivo told Army Radio. The victim was reported to be in moderate condition.

The stabbing suspect escaped the scene and the background of the incident is under investigation, according to Israel Police.

Police dispersed a confrontation that occurred in the Hatikva neighborhood of Tel Aviv, in which a Kan correspondent was attacked by two 30-year-old suspects while covering police operations.

The police are considering bringing them to a hearing tomorrow at the magistrate court, with a request to keep the two detained for further questioning.

In Haifa, eight people have been arrested in clashes between Arab protesters and police.

During the riots, stones were thrown at Jewish vehicles in the area of Wadi Nisnas, an Arab neighborhood, close to the downtown area. A protest has also broken out on Masada street further up the mountain, where concetrated populations of both Jews and Arabs live.

Additionally, N12 reported that a 66-year-old woman was lightly injured after stones were thrown at her while standing at a bus station in the Hadar neighborhood of Haifa.

Later in the evening, police reported that they arrested an individual in his 20s on suspicion of possessing a weapon. Police in the area are doing routine traffic stops on suspicious vehicles and upon search of one vehicle under suspicion the weapons were found.

On Thursday afternoon, a Jewish family including three young children mistakenly entered the Arab town of Umm al-Fahm and found themselves in the middle of a protest after their GPS brought them into the heat of a demonstration. The family had to be rescued by police after a group of rioters attacked the vehicle.

The family was rescued by good samaritans and taken to a local clinic where they were found by police suffering from various injuries, who later evacuated the family to a hospital in Afula. Pictures from the scene showed a man who was being evacuated by medical staff with a tourniquet wrapped around his leg. Other images showed car seats stained with blood and smashed in windows.

In Lod, one of the true flashpoints sparking confrontations between Arabs and Jews, a synagogue was set on fire amid the infighting across the city, Haaretz reported.

THE CITY OF LOD, which is declared to be in a state of emergency, is considering revising its curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 p.m. as the city braced for another round of riots on Thursday, Israeli media reported.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz said on Thursday evening that the declaration of the civil emergency in Lod will be extended another 48 hours, making it possible to allocate rescue forces under police command, allot further access to required equipment and the restriction of movement on residents of the city.

Under the current curfew, residents of the city are prohibited from leaving their homes, except to head to protected areas amid rocket fire or to receive emergency medical treatment.

Police warned that violations of these prohibitions are punishable by up to three years in prison.

Israel police have asked the public to prepare within the hours remaining before the restrictions are applied, and implored residents to obey the instructions of the police sent in to restore calm.

Before the restrictions were set in place, large groups of "armed" Jewish extremists were documented entering the city, N12 reported.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Lod earlier in the day against the backdrop of violent riots occurring nightly throughout the mixed southern Jewish-Arab city.

Netanyahu said during his visit that there is no greater threat than the internal disturbances brewing throughout the country.

Nightly riots have broken out throughout the city in recent days, amid the escalation between Jews and Arabs at the Temple Mount and now furthermore between Israel and Gaza terror groups in the coastal enclave.

"What we need now is strength and power, and backing for the police," Netanyahu said, adding that IDF forces can be brought into the city if need be to restore its order, as former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin did in the past.

Due to the severe violence seen in Lod on Monday and Tuesday, Israel Police established a task force headquarters in the city on Wednesday, with a force of some 500 Border Police personnel, including tactical border police, detectives, investigators and other law enforcement personnel.

ISRAELI POLICE have also opened numerous investigations to locate the instigators of planned riots by radical Jewish Israelis in other cities across the country, police announced on Thursday.

Thursday night, a resident of Kiryat Motzkin, close to Acre in the north, was arrested on suspicion of inciting violence after he called on Arab protesters to target vehicles and shops across Acre. The suspect will be arrained tomorrow at the magistrate court to determine the length of the their detention.

The statement came following messages and materials circulated on social media calling for Jewish citizens to take part in riots and violent protests throughout Israel.

Kan News reported that events like this are planned to take place in Bat Yam, Jerusalem, Haifa and Jaffa, with groups of far-right Israeli extremists claiming that tonight's confrontations are to "protect Jews and deter the terrorists."

The far-right Jewish organization Lehava, who are ideologically against assimilation between Jews and non-Jews, announced that it will be handing out pepper spray and tear gas to activists starting next week.

"Tonight at 8 p.m. in Haifa we are going to show Haifa's Arab's that this is a Jewish city," a screenshot of one of the flyers for the planned riots, shared by N12, read.

Police are asking for the public and city leaders to exercise restraint amid the recent escalations.

In the Tel Aviv suburbs, police have blocked off road entrances between Bat Yam and Jaffa in fear of further confrontations between Jewish and Arab residents of both townships, according to Ynet.

Some 200 Jewish protesters, many masked, were documented gathering throughout the city on their way to the promenade to start demonstrating.

"We are going to defend the city from the revenge of the Jaffa Arabs," they were quoted as saying, according to Ynet.

ON WEDNESDAY, Gantz ordered the emergency call-up of 10 companies of Border Police and for them to deploy throughout the country in an attempt to curb the Arab-Jewish violence and riots that have marred Israeli streets in recent days.

The bulk of these forces were positioned throughout flashpoint cities such as Haifa, Acre, Tiberias, Ramla and Jerusalem.

Some 374 people were arrested throughout Israel following intense Jewish-Arab violence and riots that erupted across the country on Wednesday, taking place amid the ongoing fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Tensions have boiled to new heights in mixed cities with large Arab in populations. Two people on Wednesday were publicly lynched during riots in both Bat Yam and Acre.

A Jewish citizen in his 30s was in critical condition after he was attacked by a mob of Arab demonstrators near Egged Square in Acre. Police said he was attacked in his car by Arab Israeli protesters armed with sticks and stones.

Magen David Adom staff evacuated him to the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya unconscious, in serious condition and suffering from a head injury.

On Thursday morning, two police cars were set on fire in the Israeli-Arab town of Kafr Kassem. In Acre, a hotel was set on fire, which spread to a nearby building. In Lod, where these riots began, a Jewish man was reportedly stabbed by an Arab Muslim near a mosque.

Also in Acre, Israel police arrested seven people in Acre on suspicion of committing arson throughout the recent days of escalation and riots across the city. The seven arrested Acre residents were reportedly all in their early 20s.

In another incident, in the Tel Aviv suburb of Bat Yam, Jewish extremists marched down main streets, smashing Arab-owned businesses and attacking passersby. One motorist — identified as an Arab — was grabbed in the middle of the street and beaten on live television. Four of the alleged attackers were arrested while chanting "death to Arabs" and "may your village burn."

In Haifa, a 26-year-old man was injured after being run over by a car near the demonstrations in the city. He was evacuated to Rambam Medical Center in the city in light-to-moderate condition. The 20-year-old driver fled the scene, but was apprehended and detained by police.

On Hagiborim Street in Haifa, a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a police car, setting fire to the vehicle. No injuries were reported.

Right-wing extremist rioters were also seen in Tiberias as well as Lod, and more are expected to show up in other cities on Thursday with a largely mixed Arab and Jewish population.

In the Bedouin town of Hura, rioters set fire to a community police headquarters, Ynet news reported. No injuries or arrests were reported. At the entrance of Rahat, also in the Negev, police arrested five suspects for throwing stones and burning tires along routes 310 and 264. In Sheikh Jarrah, the flashpoint of Jewish-Arab tensions in Jerusalem, ten people were arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct and causing property damage, Ynet also reported.

Two ultra-Orthodox men in the east of the neighborhood were also injured.

A 50-year-old man was stabbed in the neck after accidentally entering the city of Tamra early Thursday as well, Ynet news reported.

The man was rescued from a lynching by a local ambulance crew after they noticed the violence. He was later transferred to Rambam Hospital in Haifa.

Police were called to Agrippas Street in Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda early Thursday after an employee of a nearby establishment sustained a stab wound to his upper body. He is in critical condition, according to medical sources, and was transferred to the hospital for further treatment.

A policeman was injured early Thursday from live fire in the Arab village of Umm al-Fahm amid riots in the town. Rioters also threw Molotov cocktails at policemen standing near the city's police station.

Upon searching for the perpetrators, police came under fire and a border police officer was moderately wounded.

Netanyahu spoke late Wednesday on the rioting and attempted lynchings taking place Wednesday in Israeli cities, saying that he intends to restore law and order.

In a statement to the media, Netanyahu said that "Nothing justifies lynching Arabs among Jews, and nothing justifies lynching Jews by Arabs. We will not accept this. It is not us to use this violence. We will return the control and governance to the cities of Israel. In all cities, in mixed cities, in Jewish cities – everywhere."

"Let us unite together to do the task we need to do as citizens of our country: to restore governance, eliminate this anarchy and preserve and restore the security and peace we all deserve," he said.

IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi also said at a meeting of the cabinet early Thursday that he opposes using soldiers to restore order in Israeli cities, noting that the military is a "people's army" and not suitable for civilian unrest, Ynet news reported.