While violence between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants escalated, Israel declared a state of emergency in the central city of Lod.
A missile from Gaza struck a vehicle and set it on fire killing a father and daughter who were both Israeli Arabs. Hundreds of missiles were launched into Israel while Israel was busy hitting the Palestinian residencies with air strikes.
At least 50 victims lost their lives during the most heinous acts of brutality in recent years.
Palestinian officials say targeting Tel Aviv was a response to Israeli strikes in Gaza which killed dozens and demolished a tower building. Israeli consecutive response led to the demolition of the second tower.
Lod in Fire
Public protests erupted in Lod, a city near Tel Aviv, a few days ago and quickly devolved into full-fledged massive protest, with demonstrators hurling rocks at officers, who retaliated with stun grenades.
The demonstrations, held by mostly Arab participants, intensified after the funeral of a man who died a day earlier amid the tensions. The protesters find Israeli officials responsible for the unrest and lives lost.
More than 12 people were wounded in the local hostilities. Israeli police asserted that the condition in Lod deteriorated after darkness.
a 52-year-old father and his teen daughter lost their lives as a result of a missile launched from Gaza on their car on Wednesday. The family mother was reportedly injured and is in critical condition.
Synagogues and public places were blazing in the fury of protesters. Reuters also reported that Jews were stoning am Arab citizens in response.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proclaimed a state of emergency in Lod on Tuesday night. Israeli border forces in the West Bank were deployed to Lod to put the condition under control.
According to the Times of Israel, It’s the first time since 1966 that the government has used emergency powers against an Arab nation. It obviously indicates the alarming condition in the city simultaneous with the country’s security concerns.
The crackdown against Palestinians by Israel’s military in Al-Aqsa mosque, Gaza and elsewhere has sparked violence among Israel’s Arab community, resulting in massive, sometimes violent, demonstrations.
The protests were not limited to Lod, with Arab residents of other regions joining forces to protest against Tel Aviv’s hostile adventures against Palestinians which put its own citizens in danger.
The Times of Israel newspaper cited Lod Mayor, Yair Revivo, as saying, “All of Israel should know, this is a complete loss of control. Civil war has erupted in Lod.”
Netanyahu took an emergent visit to Lod to call for peace. He nevertheless threatened the citizens with curfew enforcement if the unrests continue to rave the city.
The Tensions spiked in the early days of Islamic Ramadan month in Al-Aqsa mosque when Israeli security forces banned traditional rituals to be held in Damascus gate.
Days later, the announcement of the court ruling to evict Palestinian residents from Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem infuriated the Palestinians and provided fuel to the fire. The confrontations between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters spiked to the point that Hamas took a step in.
Jerusalem, with profound religious and national importance for both Israel and Palestine, is at the centre of the decades-long confrontation between the two countries. Israel actually occupied East Jerusalem in 1980 and declares the east and west regions to be its capital. This is while international community, including western powers considered allies for Israel, do not recognize this. The eruption of local protests in Israel in the wake of new clashes with Palestinian people might send an alarming signal to the rulers in Israel and its allying countries. Combined with the two-year political deadlock, Israel is passing the most precarious months in its seven-decade history.
