Israeli residents of a central city have formed an armed vigilante group, the latest in stepped-up arming of extremists who target Palestinians with impunity.
Michael Lichtenstein, who calls himself the “security coordinator” of the armed group formed in Lod, said more than 50 volunteers serve in the group.
“Until now, I haven’t personally seen the need to carry a weapon but there are friends who have weapons, certainly. There is weaponry, doctors, and medics,” Lichtenstein said, adding that they are already active in confronting Palestinians.
Lichtenstein, who served the Israeli military for more than 10 years, said the armed group was in regular contact with the police and was being primed to carry out orders.
“I know that if events break out all at once, the police won’t reach me in the first hours so my preparedness is for the first hours until the police come,” he said.
The establishment of the armed group has been supported by the mayor of Lod, Yair Revivo, and also members of the Israeli parliament (Knesset).
After a deadly Palestinian shooting operation in Tel Aviv earlier in the month, the occupying regime’s prime minister called on Israelis with gun licenses to arm themselves, saying, “Whoever has a gun license; this is the time to carry it.”
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Tensions have escalated in the occupied land since March 22, when Palestinians began to launch retaliatory operations in Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities. Since then, Israeli forces have been carrying out raids in different towns, especially in Jenin.
The trigger was a surge in settler attacks on Palestinian property, including farms, shops, homes, and cars.
Palestinian resistance groups have praised the new wave of resistance against Israeli occupation, which has killed 14 Israelis, a figure higher than the once recorded during the 11-day war with Gaza last year.
Tensions have escalated in the current holy month of Ramadan which has seen Israeli troops regularly raid the al-Aqsa Mosque compound with the help of extremist settlers.
On Friday, Israeli troops violently attacked worshipers at the mosque. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), a national humanitarian organization, said in a statement that its medics attended to 344 injured people following Israeli attacks in several cities.
The attacks prompted Palestinian resistance groups to warn Israel of serious consequences.
Egypt dissuaded Hamas from rocket fire after the al-Aqsa clashes’
Israel’s Hebrew-language Channel 12 television network reported on Saturday that Egypt had dissuaded Hamas from potentially firing rockets at Israel following Friday’s violence at the al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Israeli network said indications from the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip were that the clashes at the al-Aqsa Mosque could have escalated into a full-blown conflict.
The network said Hamas would have likely fired rockets at Israel, but Egyptian intelligence officials stepped in to try to de-escalate the tensions.
Back in May last year, frequent acts of violence against Palestinian worshipers at Al-Aqsa Mosque led to an 11-day war between Palestinian resistance groups in the besieged Gaza Strip and Israel, during which the Israeli regime killed at least 260 Palestinians, including 66 children.
The Gaza-based resistance movements retaliated by firing thousands of rockets at the occupied territories. The regime was eventually forced to announce a ceasefire, brokered by Egypt, which came into force on May 21.
The Gaza Strip, home to some two million people, has been under a blockade imposed by Israel since June 2007.
