EMERGENCY IN ISRAEL CITY

PM Netanyahu declares the state of emergency in Lod following riots, arson

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared a state of emergency in Lod as intense rioting has erupted in the Arab-Jewish city amid escalating tensions between Israel and Palestine.

The Times of Israel reported that three synagogues and numerous shops have been set on fire in Lod, and dozens of cars have been set alight.

Some residents are reportedly avoiding using public shelters during rocket sirens, out of fear they could be attacked by mobs.

Netanyahu has declared the state of emergency in Lod after the meeting between top security and legal officials.

This is the first use of emergency powers over an Arab community in Israel since the end of the military administration over the Arabs of Israel in 1966.

Lod Mayor Yair Revivo said he has asked the Prime Minister to declare the state of emergency and called for deploying the military to control the chaotic situation.

"I have called on the Prime Minister to declare the state of emergency in Lod. To call in the IDF. To impose a curfew. To restore quiet... This is a giant incident -- an Intifada of Arab Israelis. All the work we have done here for years [on coexistence] has gone down the drain," he said.

Following this, Netanyahu and Defence Minister Benny Gantz ordered battalions of Border Police assisting the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) to go to Lod and other mixed population towns experiencing unrest, The Times of Israel reported.

United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East, Tor Wennesland, urged both sides to stop the violence, saying that the situation was escalating towards a "full scale war".