Tel Aviv imposes night curfew over central Israeli city amid clashes

By Ali Abo Rezeg and Zehra Nur Duz

ANKARA (AA) - Israel on Wednesday imposed a night curfew over the central Arab-majority city of Lod after clashes erupted between Israeli security forces and Palestinians [Arab Israelis] over tensions in Jerusalem and Gaza City.

The death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip has risen to 56, including 14 children, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

A ministry statement said five women were among the victims, while a total of 335 people were injured.

Arab Israelis are the Palestinians who managed to stay in their homes during the Nakba (forced exodus) of 1948 and later became citizens of the Israeli state. They make up around 20% of Israel's population.

They are centered in a group of Arab towns in central Israel known as the “Little Triangle” along with the Galilee (north) and Negev regions (south).

Numerous human rights groups decry Israeli policies against Arabs as a form of modern-day apartheid, with Arab Israelis suffering from racial discrimination in education, work, and health care.

Tensions have been running high since last week after an Israeli court ordered the eviction of Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed the entire city in 1980, in a move that has never been recognized by the international community.