Lod resident, 56, first Jewish victim from Arab riots in mixed city
Seven people suspected of being involved in violent riots in Lod were arrested during the night between Sunday and Monday as additional Border Police units were dispatched to the city.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFThis is Hamas’s victory image. Policemen stand near a burning police car during clashes with Arab rioters in the Arab-Jewish town of Lod this week.(photo credit: AMMAR AWAD/REUTERS)
Yigal Yehoshua, 56, passed away on Monday, becoming the first Jewish resident of Lod to die from wounds he sustained during the recent wave of Arab riots in the city.Yehoshua, a plumber who worked with Jews and Arabs, was hit on the head with a large brick a few days ago and was evacuated in critical condition to Shamir Medical Center where doctors fought to stabilize him. He left behind a wife and two children, ages 22 and eight. "We have been living here a long time and Yigal had many Arab friends," Yehoshua's widow Ira told Walla News. "He worked in Arab and Jewish homes and never made a distinction. We never thought there was a problem."Yigal Yehoshua, 56, passed away from wounds sustained during the Lod riots.
Also on Monday, a resident of Jaffa was arrested under suspicion that he was behind the Molotov cocktail against a Jaffa home that severely injured a 12-year-old Arab boy on Friday night. The suspect was apprehended a joint operation by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and Israel Police.
A Tel Aviv District Court judge ordered a gag order on all details of the investigation and the suspects' identity.
The 12-year-old boy was still in serious condition after he and another child in Jaffa were burnt from the Molotov cocktail while at home in Jaffa's Ajami neighborhood.
Seven people suspected of involvement in violent riots in Lod were arrested during early Monday morning as additional Border Police units were dispatched to the city as part of a nationwide effort to prevent Jewish-Arab violence.
Violence between Jews and Arabs continued across Israel as police and Fire and Rescue services struggled to respond to the volume of incidents.
A resident of southern Israel was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of setting up and running multiple groups on social media calling to perform violent acts against Arab citizens across Israel. He was detained for questioning by Israel's elite anti-corruption police unit Lahav 433.
Multiple extremist WhatsApp and Telegram groups were reported to the police for encouraging violence against Israeli Arabs prior to riots in the Tel Aviv suburb of Bat Yam on Thursday, where Jewish extremists marched down main streets, smashing Arab-owned businesses while chanting "death to Arabs" and "may your village burn." Four of the rioters were arrested on the scene.
One motorist - identified as an Arab - was grabbed in the middle of the street and assaulted by dozens of people on live television, in what Kan News described as a "live lynching."
Two residents of Bat Yam, both in their twenties, were arrested on suspicion of participating in last week's assault.
A total of 22 people were arrested or detained during riots in east Jerusalem on Sunday and the Jerusalem District Court also filed nine indictments for assaulting police officers and participating in the riots.
Also on Sunday, four residents of Wadi Ara, all in their early twenties, were indicted in Haifa for allegedly throwing rocks and assaulting police officers.
Israeli police arrested two residents of Jisr e-Zarka, a northern coastal town north of Caesarea, on suspicion of making Molotov cocktails and throwing stones, Israel Police reported in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Two vehicles owned by Jewish residents in the Abu Tor neighborhood of Jerusalem were set on fire by Molotov cocktails on Sunday night.
Abu Tor, a mixed neighborhood of Arabs and Jews, sits on the cusp of the border between of east and west Jerusalem.
Three residents of Silwan were arrested in Jerusalem Sunday morning, as crowds gathered and attempted to prevent police from arresting two residents of the Jerusalem neighborhood suspected of an attack earlier this week.
