Groups of ultra-Orthodox Jews stormed a conscription office in central Israel in protest of compulsory military service.
Footage by Israeli media showed Israeli police chasing ultra-Orthodox Jews inside the conscription office in the Tel Hashomer army base.
The demonstrations, which took place as Israel braced for an expected barrage of missiles from Iran, underscored the deep splits that have widened in Israeli society 10 months after the start of the war in Gaza.
The military condemned the incident at the Tel Hashomer base, which occurred after protesters managed to break in before being cleared by police.
"Breaking into a military base is a serious offense and is against the law. The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) condemns this violent behavior and insists that the protesters be brought to justice," the military said in a statement.
A large number of Israeli police and army officers were deployed in the base to expel the protesters, Israel’s Army Radio said.
According to public broadcaster KAN, only 30 ultra-Orthodox Jews appeared on Monday at the conscription office, while 1,000 are supposed to register their names on Monday and Tuesday.
Haredi Jews make up about 13% of Israel's population of approximately 9.9 million and do not serve in the military, dedicating their lives to studying the Torah.
Israeli law requires all Israelis over 18 to serve in the military, and the exemption of Haredi has been a contentious issue for decades.
Israel's Supreme Court ordered the government in June to end a longstanding exemption and draft ultra-Orthodox Haredi seminary students into the military, over the bitter objections of the community and religious parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition.
The first call up papers were sent out about two weeks ago and the draftees are due to report to recruitment centres.
Draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jews date back to the early days of the state of Israel, when the first prime minister, the Socialist David Ben-Gurion exempted about 400 students from military service so they could devote themselves to religious study. In so doing, Ben-Gurion hoped to keep alive sacred knowledge and traditions almost wiped out in the Nazi Holocaust.
At the time, the Haredis were a tiny minority but the exemptions have become an increasing problem as the community has expanded to make up more than 13% of Israel's population, a proportion expected to reach around a third within 40 years due to a high birth rate.
The issue has simmered unresolved for decades but the war in Gaza, and the possibility of a wider war with Iran and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in southern Lebanon, has brought it into sharp focus.
"The enlistment of ultra-Orthodox citizens is an operational necessity and is being conducted in accordance with the law. The IDF is determined to continue advancing it," the military said.
Israel, flouting a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an attack last October by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
Over 39,600 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 91,400 injured, according to local health authorities.
Ten months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
