The American Embassy in Israel on Saturday circulated a warning among its staffers advising them to avoid visiting the city of Jaffa, adjacent to Tel Aviv, which has seen daily clashes between Arab Israelis and police. It also called on US citizens "to remain vigilant and take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness, as security incidents often take place without warning."
Hundreds of Arab Israelis have been protesting in Jaffa for five straight days against the decision by the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality to raze an 18th-century Muslim burial ground to build a new homeless shelter and commercial space on the site.
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Municipality contractors discovered the burial ground while clearing the site for the purposes of construction.
Protesters threw a Molotov cocktail at the Tel-Aviv Jaffa Municipality building on Friday, damaging the building, and set several vehicles alight.
Police arrested five people in the course of the protests.
Abed Gazaabou Shehadeh, Tel Aviv's only Arab council member, said he intended to withdraw from the council over the "insensitive" decision.
The rioting was also linked with the recent killing of a special needs Palestinian man by border police in Jerusalem.
Part of this article was originally published by i24NEWS
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