Following the violent incidents across the country overnight Tuesday, Israel Police has decided to immediately recruit 8 reserve companies of the Border Police, in order to boost the available forces.
Large police forces worked during the night to restore order and arrest suspects of disorderly conduct, stone-throwing and riots.
In the Northern District, 67 suspects were arrested for disorderly conduct that included shooting fireworks, setting fire to tires, throwing stones, and blocking roads.
In Wadi Ara, an Arab corridor connecting the Jewish cities of Hadera and Afula, 13 suspects were arrested on suspicion of attempting to run over a police officer, throwing stones, burning cans and tires and assaulting police officers.
In Haifa, about 15 suspects were arrested for throwing stones and disturbing the peace.
The Israel Police issued a statement on Tuesday morning saying it is prepared with large forces throughout the country, and the forces on the ground will respond harshly to any attempt to disrupt the public order. Musa Hasson, 25, who was allegedly injured by gunfire from a Jewish resident of Lod, died. A suspect, 34, was arrested Tuesday morning by police.
עוד זווית לכאוס אתמול, התיעוד הזה מאסף הרופא של בני משפחות הפצועים מהירי בכניסה לבית החולים pic.twitter.com/qvHEQrPPhq
— Bar Peleg (@bar_peleg)
In Lod and Ramla, 22 suspects in riots were arrested (Muslims Desecrate Synagogues and Jewish Schools in Pogrom in Lod, Ramle). Later, dozens of people rioted outside the emergency room at Assaf Harofeh Hospital, some 10 miles southeast of Tel Aviv, where the wounded from the violent incidents in Lod and Ramla had been evacuated. Among the rioters were relatives and friends of the wounded, and according to the hospital announcement they threw stones, damaged equipment, and cursed and threatened the Arab medical staff. According to the hospital, the medical staff “shut themselves in for long minutes, fearing for their lives.” Police forces called to the scene dispersed the rioters using stun grenades.
A video from the incident shows Arab rioters running towards a vehicle with one of them is holding a Molotov cocktail, and later gunshots are heard. Eyewitness Joel Frankenburg, a resident of Lod, told Haaretz that he and his neighbors called the police dozens of times for help, but the police did not arrive.
“It was terrifying,” he recalled. “If he had not opened fire, they would have entered our house.”
Frankburg, who lives in a group of buildings associated with the Lod Garin Torani (a group of idealistic, religious Zionists, individuals and families, who settle in underdeveloped communities to help build up and strengthen the community through social and religious programming), said that “as early as around twelve-thirty at night, several dozen masked Arabs began to gather on Hashmonaim Street next to us, and set fire to trash bins. It was impossible to pass through there, it was clear to us that we were their destination.”
During the clashes in Lod and Ramla overnight Tuesday, Arab residents threw stones at Jewish homes, tore out traffic lights and even set fire to various objects. About 200 masked men demonstrated in front of city hall in Lod, set fire to garbage cans and threw stones and fireworks at police. The demonstrators even set fire to vehicles and tried to set fire to a police station in the Ramat Eshkol neighborhood of the city. Police responded with tear gas and stun grenades and used batons.
