Arrest made in Tel Aviv petrol bomb attacks

Police on Sunday arrested a man suspected of hurling Molotov cocktails at the homes of African refugees in Tel Aviv over the weekend.

The arrest of a 20-year-old man from Tel Aviv follows the early Friday morning incident in which three Molotov cocktails were hurled at apartments occupied by refugees from Sudan and Eritrea, causing damage but no injuries. A kindergarten attended by migrant children was also targeted and damaged in the attacks.

Israel Radio reported that police are investigating whether the motive for the attacks was to protest the presence of African refugees in Shapira, a southern Tel Aviv neighborhood.

African migrants, who cross the border from Egypt illegally, tend to converge in the crowded neighborhoods around the old bus station in Tel Aviv, due to low rent costs and proximity to employment opportunities.

Increasing incidents of theft, muggings, harassment, and rape by migrant Africans has raised tensions with the local population, Maariv reported.

Police believe the multiple attacks last week may have been organized by a local underground group that hopes to intimidate the Africans and force them to leave the area.

On Friday a demonstration by Israelis supporting the African migrants and protesting the attacks ended in scuffles between protesters and local residents who oppose the foreigners’ presence.