The escalation of violence between Arabs and Jews in Israel worries the international public opinion, that is appealing to both sides to take a step back.
Israeli president Reuven Rivlin warned the citizenry to stop the street violence. There are indeed fears that the fighting between Jews and Arabs could escalate towards a civil war. Violence keeps spreading on the streets of the towns, as both Israel and Palestine continue launching airstrikes.
Tensions between the two national groups haven’t been so high in years.
That’s the reason why Mr Rivlin interrupted TV broadcast to call on the population to “please stop the madness”, in order to avoid a “senseless civil war”.
He told: “We are endangered by rockets that are being launched at our citizens and streets, and we are busying ourselves with a senseless civil war among ourselves”.
Violence escalation between Israel and Palestine
Since the beginning of the fight earlier this week, the death toll is now at least 67 in Gaza and 7 in Israel.
Communal violence is taking over the country, as showed by some videos. TV broadcast a footage of a mob forcing a man, thought to be Arab, to get out of the car. Then they started to beat him until he lay motionless on the ground, covered with blood.
But there’s more: a fire blazed in the city of Lod, torching a synagogue and cars. Stones have been thrown against motorists on some roads. Palestinian protesters clashed with law enforcement in northern Haifa port.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Natanyahu ordered the police to control the mobs and to stop the street violence. He said: “This violence is not who we are, I don’t care if your blood’s boiling”.
International community calls for peace
James Cleverly, British Minister for Middle East, also appealed to Palestinian and Israeli leaders to stop the clashes.
“It is important for both sides to take a step back”, he told Sky News. “We have seen however an unprecedented level of rocket attack into Israel”, he added. “We want to see the rocket attacks stop”.
The UN’s special envoy to the Middle East called for a ceasefire. He stated: “Leader on all sides have to take the responsibility of the de-escalation.”
The US President Joe Biden said during a call with Mr Netanyahu: “Israel has a right to defend itself against thousands of rockets flying into their territory. My hope is that we’ll se this coming to a conclusion sooner rather than later”.
Despite the appeals for calm coming from international community, air attacks continue. Hamas, that still asked for a ceasefire, launched a series of raids towards Israel as a response for the killing of senior Palestinian commanders.
On the other side, Israel doesn’t seem to be willing to stop the attacks. The Israel Defence Forces intensified the presence of tanks and troops on the Gaza border. They also announced they are preparing for any eventuality, even an incursion into the Gaza strip.
