Israel, Gaza militants trade fire as tensions rise: Trey Yingst reports from the ground
Trey Yingst provides the latest updates on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a state of emergency in a city just south of Tel Aviv Tuesday night, as Arab and Jewish communities clashed in violent riots.
Following the aggressive exchange of hundreds of rockets between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants since Monday, Arab and Jewish communities took to the streets in Lod Tuesday night.
Images of cars, shops and synagogues ablaze were posted to social media, prompting Lod Mayor Yair Revivo to request Netanyahu’s assistance.
ISRAEL, HAMAS CONTINUE TO EXCHANGE FIRE AS DEADLY CONFRONTATION PERSISTS
The city-wide state of emergency allowed Revivo to implement a curfew and request additional security forces to be called in, first reported the Times of Israel.
"This is too big for police," Revivo said Tuesday night. "This is Kristallnacht in Lod," he continued, referring to the 1938 Night of Broken Glass.
"All of Israel should know, this is a complete loss of control," the Israel-based publication reported the mayor saying. "This is unthinkable. Synagogues are being burned. Hundreds of cars set alight. Hundreds of Arab thugs are roaming the streets. Civil war has erupted in Lod," he concluded.
Tuesday’s state of emergency is the first time an emergency power has been used over an Arab community in Israel since 1966, reported the Israeli publication.
National Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai called the events "unprecedented."
Lod was not the only city hit with a surge of aggression following the airstrikes.
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Attacks against both Jewish and Arab shops, homes and cars were reported in Ramale, Acre and Jaffa. A physical alteration was additionally reported in a main square in Tel Aviv.
At least two Israelis and 32 Palestinians have been killed since the violence erupted Monday, including 10 children. Hundreds of others have reportedly been injured.