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Israeli security forces fought to quell the worsening of community violence in their cities as the military intensified the assault on Gaza against the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Minority Israeli Jews and Arabs they fought among themselves in several Israeli cities overnight, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to quell the riots with “much force.”
The worst domestic unrest in recent years escalated with a soldier beaten in Jaffa, a police officer shot in Lod and another synagogue set on fire, according to Israeli media. Outbreaks of mass violence were reported across the country as numerous groups of Israeli Arabs and Jewish men defied curfews.
Clashes between Israeli citizens occurred when the military added tanks and artillery to its five days air campaign against Hamas. The military operation has killed 119 Palestinians, including 38 women and children, according to Gaza health officials.
“We are facing a campaign on two fronts: in Gaza [and] in the cities of Israel, ”Netanyahu said Thursday afternoon.
An Israeli army spokesman told reporters early on that ground troops had moved to Gaza, but later clarified that none had entered the impoverished strip of 2 million people.
Israel had positioned additional troops, including two infantry brigades and one armored vehicle, near the Gaza border and summoned an additional 9,000 reservists on Thursday.
The troop movement raised speculation that Israel was planning its first invasion of Gaza since the 2014 war with Hamas. Israeli military officials have said they are preparing for all scenarios, including a potential ground offensive, but have not yet made the decision on whether to invade.
Since the 2014 war, Israel has been reluctant to send troops to Gaza, in part for fear of its soldiers being abducted.
Despite the Israeli bombing, Hamas continued to launch rockets deep into Israel overnight, directing hundreds more to Tel Aviv, Ashdod and another far south that landed near an airport near the Red Sea, where they had redirected incoming international flights.
The militant group has fired more than 1,500 rockets at Israel since Monday. Seven Israelis, including a soldier and a child, have been killed.
The Arab-Israeli conflict has been dominated for more than a decade by fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian factions in the occupied territories. But community violence in Israel has added a new dangerous dynamic and exacerbated the crisis.
Israeli Arabs make up about one-fifth of the population of the Jewish state, carry Israeli passports, and vote in the country’s elections. But they say they suffer from institutional and social discrimination and their sympathy for the Palestinian cause has made them a target for right-wing Israeli politicians.
Several thousand Israeli police have been relocated from the occupied West Bank to Israeli cities as part of efforts to curb the violence.
Speaking in Lod, a mixed Arab-Jewish city near Tel Aviv that has seen the worst of the Jewish-Arab fighting, Netanyahu promised that security services would give their free hand to use force to quell national unrest. , telling forces not to worry about “commissions of inquiry, investigations and controls.”
“You have the support, don’t worry,” he said. “When destroying riot police you have to use force, a lot of force.”
The prime minister said he was considering approving the use of administrative detentions, which are commonly used in the occupied West Bank to detain Palestinians for long periods without access to lawyers, and incorporate the army. This raised fears among Arab Israelis that they could face the same harsh measures that Israel has taken against the Palestinians in the occupied territories.
“The intelligence we have says we could have an increase in violence here in the next few days,” Netanyahu said. “Right now we have no greater threat than these disruptions.”
Israel Channel 12 News reported that police had blamed Itamar Ben-Gvir, a right-wing member of the Knesset for “this intifada” or uprising, appearing in areas where security forces were trying to quell Arab violence. israeliana. incendiary statements and initial confrontations with Arabs. Ben-Gvir’s office did not return a phone call for comment.
Community violence has highlighted the religious tensions that provoked the most recent crisis. There have been weeks of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli riot police on the grounds of al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
Israeli police stormed the venue, which is sacred to both religions, at least three times last week, with rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades. At least 600 Palestinians were injured.
Hamas entered the fight Monday by firing long-range rockets after previously demanding that Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem stop harassing Arab residents awaiting eviction orders from Israeli courts. Israel responded with hundreds of airstrikes against Gaza, including 600 Hamas military targets, according to the Israeli military.
The Gaza Strip drops up to about five hours of electricity a day after Israel closed a goods crossing control earlier this week, an Israeli security official said. He will probably run out of fuel on Sunday, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
In an attempt to drown Hamas, Israel has imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip since 2007, which was later joined by Egypt. The blockade is described as a siege by the Palestinians.
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