Israel-Gaza: Shootings and lynchings continue with violent clashes between Arab and Jewish groups

Shootings and lynchings continue across Israel with a synagogue burned down and violent clashes between Arab and Jewish groups, prompting President Benjamin Netanyahu to call for calm. 

Much of the unrest took place in Lod, but violence was also seen on the streets of Beersheba, Netanya, Acre, Jerusalem, Haifa, Bat Yam, and Tiberias.  

Thousands of people gathered in Jenin, Hebron, Bethlehem, and Nablus for pro-Palestinian protests in support of Gaza and Jerusalem on Friday morning. At least four were killed in clashes. 

Responding to the violence, Netanyahu said: ‘I don’t care if your blood is boiling. So it’s boiling. It’s irrelevant. 

‘You can’t take the law into your own hands. You can’t come to an Arab civilian and try to lynch him, just as we can’t see Arab citizens do so to Jewish citizens. This will not stand.’ 

Israeli soldiers were seen getting into shooting positions during clashes with Palestinian protesters on Friday afternoon. 

The clashes took place at demonstrations over rising violence along the Israel-Gaza border, and over the eviction of Palestinian residents from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah. 

The largest protests on Friday took place in Hebron, where hundreds of Palestinians gathered to demonstrate. 

But, most of the violence took place in Lod, where a male medic was shot in the leg, a man was stabbed on his way to a synagogue, and five officers were injured in the riots. 

Another synagogue was burned down in Lod, where five have been torched in recent days. At least 43 people were arrested, down from 120 on Thursday.   

Petrol bombs were hurled at police stations and shots were fired between Arabs and Israeli police in Lod overnight.   

Several graves in a Muslim cemetery in Lod were vandalised overnight and in one case, the grave stone was broken with a rock. 

In Jaffa, a teenage soldier was hospitalised with skull fractures and internal bleeding, after being attacked with rocks and pepper spray on Thursday afternoon.

He was taken to Ichilov Hospital where he underwent complex neurosurgery on Thursday night. He is now being monitored in the hospital’s intensive care unit. 

Magen David Adom, an Israeli medical emergency service, said the soldier was found while conscious but bleeding heavily from his wounds.    

Another soldier was treated for light wounds after he was rammed by a car, thrown to the ground, and attacked outside a restaurant overnight. 

Father of two and Lod resident Etyan Meir said: ‘Arab rioters shot a 19 year old Jewish medic, burned down another synagogue and continued to throw rocks, molotov cocktails and grenades at Jews.

‘We are exhausted because no one has slept for four nights and we are getting ready for another.’   

Superintendent Micky Rosenfeld said: ‘Police responded to incidents that took place in connection with stone throwing at officers and general attempted attacks of officers. 

‘A strong police presence continues and we are carrying out security assessments. ‘We are hoping things will soon get back to normal on a tactical level on the streets.

‘We need are speaking to community leaders in all areas. So far, leaders in the Jewish communities have been more receptive to speaking to their communities but we really need the Arab equivalents to weigh in on their side.

‘They are not involved enough in speaking out to control the situation. 

‘We are speaking to Knesset members trying to make that happen and have leaders call for their communities to stand down from the violence.’ 

The three leaders of the Arab parties in the Knesset have so far tweeted calling for an end to violence.   

In Haifa, northern Israel, rioters pelted a bus late on Thursday, injuring one woman.  

In Lower Galilee, a 16-year-old was killed in the rioting and eight people were taken to hospital with injuries. 

Magen David Adom treated the injured, one of whom had sustained a severe head injury. Four were treated for gunshot wounds and one was intubated. 

Defence Minister Benny Gantz warned that Israeli internal divisions were ‘no less dangerous than Hamas.’

Opposition leader Yair Lapid condemned the Jewish lynchings as a ‘total loss of control.’ 

Aman Odeh, the Arab leader of the Joint List party tweeted: ‘Weeks of violent and agitated repression by the Netanyahu government and the burning of territory in Jerusalem exploded tonight for all of us inside.

‘There is no justification for harming innocent civilians. There is no justification for harming any citizen. Especially on such days we must act together, Arabs and Jews against incitement and violence, siege and occupation and for peace and security for all.’ 

A spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy in London condemned attempted to frame the violence as all about religion. 

‘When you go back and ask what is the reason now for the conflict, according to Hamas, the reason is the holy mosque in Jerusalem is in danger’, they said.

‘So when they say that, then people are more likely to start hitting their neighbours. When it is about religion, it affects people much more than political or national reasons.

‘This is the issue I think and everyone, the police and everyone else wants the violence to de-escalate. 

‘There are also Jews doing bad things. The difference is that in Israel, everyone condemned them and the police tried to stop them.

‘The issue is that they don’t condemn on the other side. The Palestinians leaders don’t condemn it.’