BREAKING: Isreal declares state of emergency

Israel has declared a state of emergency in the central city of Lod after rioting by Israeli Arabs, as conflict between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants intensified. 

Mouthpiece NGR learnt that cars were set alight and 12 people were reported injured in clashes Lod’s mayor likened to a civil war.

While Israel carried out heavy airstrikes on Gaza, Palestinian, on the other hand, militants fired hundreds of rockets deep into Israel.

At least 31 people have died in some of the worst violence in years, report says. 

Palestinian militants said on Tuesday, May 11, they fired 130 missiles at the Israeli city of Tel Aviv after an Israeli air strike demolished a tower block in the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s military says it is targeting militants in Gaza in response to rocket attacks on Jerusalem and other areas.

According to multiple reports, the fighting came after weeks of rising tensions that were stoked by violent confrontations between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters at a site in Jerusalem that is holy to both Muslims and Jews.

The international community has urged both sides to end the escalation. The UN’s Middle East peace envoy, Tor Wennesland, said they were “escalating towards a full-scale war”.

What happened in Lod?

Protests by Israeli Arabs broke out in Lod, a city near Tel Aviv, and escalated to full-scale rioting, with protesters throwing rocks at police, who responded with stun grenades.

The protests followed the funeral of an Israeli Arab man who died during unrest in the city a day earlier.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that at least 12 people were injured in the clashes. As night fell, the situation degenerated in Lod, police said.

Synagogues and several businesses had been set on fire, Israeli media reported, while Reuters news agency said there were reports of Jews stoning a car that was being driven by an Arab resident.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Tuesday night, declared a state of emergency in Lod. Israeli border police have been brought in from the West Bank.

The conflict between the Israeli military and Palestinian militants in Gaza has stirred unrest among the Arab minority inside Israel, leading to protests.

There has also been unrest in other cities with a large Israeli Arab population, as well as in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

“All of Israel should know, this is a complete loss of control,” Lod Mayor Yair Revivo was quoted as saying by the Times of Israel newspaper. “Civil war has erupted in Lod.”

The Times of Israel said this was the first time the government had used emergency powers over an Arab community since 1966.

Prime Minister Netanyahu, who went to the city to call for calm, said he would impose a curfew in the city if necessary.