Shots from stun grenades, rubber bullets, but also live bullets: we witnessed real riots in the southern districts of Tel Aviv. Police admit they were surprised by the scale of the clashes, our correspondent in Jerusalem reports. Michael Paul.
“Unfortunately, since morning the parties have not complied with the conditions of the demonstration permit,” explains Hayim Boublil, police chief for South Tel Aviv. They came in droves to prevent the festival. We then decided to disperse them using special means. »
In particular, demonstrators ransacked a building where an event organized by the Eritrean embassy was scheduled to take place. “ The Eritrean community is divided into two : those who are for the regime and those who are against it, explains Asante, an Eritrean asylum seeker and government opponent. I left Eritrea when I was 13. The regime’s supporters wanted to throw a party for their government. And we disagree! »
“The police, fearing for their lives, fired live ammunition at the rioters,” the police added in a statement, saying 27 of their members were injured in the clashes. Police said 39 suspects were arrested for “attacking and throwing stones at police officers.” Some carried “weapons, self-defense gas bombs and electric stun guns.”
Magen David Adom, Israel’s equivalent of the Red Cross, said it had treated 114 people, eight of whom were seriously injured. Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv said 38 people were injured in the clashes, including a dozen from gunfire.
There are currently almost 20,000 Eritrean asylum seekers living in Israel. Most of them came illegally across the Sinai Peninsula and settled in neighborhoods in southern Tel Aviv.
Also read: Diasporas of the world: Eritreans in Israel