Middle East Monitor / May 15, 2021
Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz extended the state of emergency in the city of Lod [Lydda] for two days.
Demonstrations and assaults have continued in several cities in the occupied Palestinian territory for the fourth consecutive day, in condemnation of the occupation’s attack on the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, Jerusalem and the other cities, as well as the continued bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
The confrontations took place in Nazareth, Sakhnin, Al-Raynah, Shfaram, Al-Taybah, Ararat al-Muthalath, Tamra, Haifa, Al-Ba’nah, Deir al-Assad, Kafr Qara, Qalansuah, Araba, Baqa al-Gharbiyya, and Kawkab Abu Al-Hija, as well as Tuba al-Zangariya, Kafr Manda, Jadidah al-Makr, Yafa al-Nazareth, Kafr Kanna, Sha’ab and Jaffa, and other towns.
In the city of Lod, settlers, occupation forces assaulted Palestinians in the streets of Arab neighbourhoods aiming to attack and ambush Arab citizens. There have been reports of shots fired at the city’s Grand Mosque while worshippers were still inside.
Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz extended the state of emergency in the city for two days, while Internal Security Minister Amir Ohana visited the city and praised the oppressive approach employed by the occupation forces to repress the protests.
Settlers fired on Palestinian homes in Lod, prompting residents to defend themselves and their children. This led to the outbreak of armed clashes between the two sides, severely injuring one settler.
In the city of Jaffa, settlers, under the protection of the occupation police, shot at the Siksik Mosque while worshippers were inside, according to documented video footage captured by a citizen.
In the village of Jadeidi-Makr, clashes between protesters and Israeli police also erupted.
Sources reported that the house of the council chairman was targeted by unknown persons, while military vehicles were seen roaming the streets of the village.
In Sha’ab, the locals entered into confrontations with settlers who attempted to storm the village from the eastern quarter. Witnesses said that an electric power pole was set on fire, which caused a power outage in the whole city.
In Shefa-Amr, the occupation police searched the homes of municipality member Zuhair Karkabi and Murad Haddad, member of the National Democratic Assembly’s political bureau, and arrested them in connection with the demonstrations that took place in the city over the past two days.
The occupation forces arrested at least 30 young men and a ten-year-old child in Haifa and used sound bombs and tear gas to disperse a protest that took place in Allenby Street against the settler attacks and in support of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa.
According to a local source, settlers entered the Wadi al-Jamal neighbourhood in cars and on motorbikes and fired and bombed Palestinian homes.
Israeli police also shot and wounded an 18-year-old as demonstrators were dispersed into Wadi Nisnas, Jaffa Street and the Abbas quarter, and violent clashes erupted throughout the city.
In Haifa, a popular and civilian committee was formed to defend Palestinian neighbourhoods following the settlers’ successive attacks, supported by the Israeli security apparatus.
Near the village of Kafr Manda, a 23-year-old Palestinian man sustained injuries after being stabbed by settlers at the Hemovil intersection. He was rushed by a rescue team to Poriya Hospital for treatment.
In the city of Nazareth, Israeli police raided a house of the Abbas family in Al-Safafra neighbourhood and assaulted a young man in his 20s before arresting him. Meanwhile, fights erupted between the Israeli police and demonstrators in the city centre, which led to the arrests of many protesters.
Various parts of Nahf city witnessed power cuts that coincided with the ongoing demonstrations, and at a time when the occupation forces gathered at the entrance to the city.
In Shfaram, Sakhnin, Al-Raynah, Ararat al-Muthalath, Al-Ba’neh, Deir al-Assad, Kawkab Abu al-Hija, Tuba al-Zanghariya, Kafr Manda, Tamra, Yafa al-Nazareth and Kafr Kanna, clashes took place between demonstrators and Israeli police officers at the entrances to the towns.
In Kafr Qara and Qalansawe, demonstrators set fire to two Israeli police stations and closed Street 65 at Kafr Qara’s junction, while more than 20 young men were arrested.
The occupation police arrested 374 people during the last 24 hours in connection with the protests that took place in Palestinian towns last night.
In a related context, an Israeli court yesterday released four settlers suspected of taking part in the murder of the martyr Musa Hassouna in the city of Lod last Monday.
