Footage of a far-right Israeli mob attacking a man near Tel Aviv they believed to be an Arab was aired live on television Wednesday night, as the Israel-Palestinian conflict raged on.
The shocking images show a man being forcibly removed from his car and beaten by a crowd of dozens until he lost consciousness.
VIDEO — Mob of Israeli extremists caught on camera beating Palestinian man as chaos intensifies#PalestinianLivesMatter #PalestineWillBeFree #ApartheidIsrael pic.twitter.com/FvIPKwl1E0
— DAILY SABAH (@DailySabah) May 12, 2021
The attack, broadcast by public broadcaster Kan, took place on the seafront promenade of Bat Yam, south of Israel's commercial capital Tel Aviv.
Police and emergency services did not arrive on the scene until 15 minutes later, while the victim lay motionless on his back in the middle of the street.
Those in the crowd justified the attack by saying the man was an Arab who had tried to ram the far-right nationalists, but the footage shows a motorist trying to avoid the demonstration.
"The victim of the lynching is seriously injured but stable," Tel Aviv's Ichilov hospital said in a statement, without revealing his identity.
Far-right lawmaker Betzalel Smotrich, head of the "Religious Zionism" party, said he was "ashamed" of the "atrocious cruelty" of the attack.
"Jewish brothers, stop! We cannot under any circumstances allow ourselves to take part in violent acts," he said.
Israel's chief rabbi Yitzhak Yossef called for an end to attacks by Jews.
"Innocent citizens are being attacked by terrorist organizations, the heart is heavy and the images difficult, but we cannot allow ourselves to be drawn into provocations and aggressions," he said.
Issawi Fredj, an Arab deputy from the left-wing Meretz party, said the images were a sign that the country was heading towards "civil war".
Demonstrations by far-right activists broke out Wednesday night in several cities, leading to clashes with police and sometimes Arab Israelis.
Police said they were responding to violent incidents in cities including Acre, Haifa and Lod.
In Acre, a mixed Arab-Jewish town in northwest Israel, a Jew was seriously injured by stone throwers, police said.
"The rioters in Lod and Acre do not represent Israeli Arabs, the rioters in Bat Yam... do not represent Israeli Jews, violence will not dictate our lives," said opposition leader Yair Lapid, who is currently tasked with forming a government after March elections.
The death toll from the ongoing Israeli airstrikes on the blockaded Gaza Strip has risen to 60, including 14 children, the Palestinian Health Ministry said Wednesday amid an escalation sparked by violent unrest at Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. A ministry statement said that three women were among the victims in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, while 305 people were injured.
Hamas confirmed Wednesday that several of its top commanders were killed in Israeli strikes, including its military chief in Gaza City, Bassem Issa. Israel's internal security agency, the Shin Bet, also identified four other top Hamas figures who it said were killed.
Two Israeli women were also killed by rockets fired from Gaza in response to recent Israeli aggression in the heavily targeted coastal city of Ashkelon, just north of Gaza, said the emergency service Magen David Adom. The local Barzilai medical center said it was treating 70 injured.
Hamas' Qassem Brigades had vowed to turn the town "to hell" and rained down an intense volley, claiming to have fired 137 rockets towards Ashkelon and nearby Ashdod within just five minutes. Loud booms again rocked the town on Tuesday, where a rocket had ripped a gaping hole into the side of an apartment block, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) reporter said.
Over 90% of recent rockets from Gaza were reported intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system, Israeli army spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said earlier.
Israel fighter jets and attack helicopters have carried out more than 130 strikes on military targets in the enclave, said Conricus. Israeli officials said they have killed 15 Hamas commanders, while the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad confirmed two of its senior figures were also killed.
Tensions in Jerusalem have flared into the city's worst disturbances since 2017 in the days since Israeli riot police clashed with large crowds of Palestinians on the last Friday of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.
Nightly unrest since then at the Al-Aqsa compound in occupied East Jerusalem has left more than 700 Palestinians wounded, drawing international calls for de-escalation and sharp rebukes from across the Muslim world.
Hamas had Monday warned Israel to withdraw all its forces from the mosque compound and the East Jerusalem district of Sheikh Jarrah, where the looming forced expulsion of Palestinian families has fuelled angry protests.
