A Jewish-owned hotel was set on fire Thursday morning in the Old City of Akko.
The three-floor bed and breakfast, located next to the Old City’s Lighthouse was attacked by rioting Arabs in the city, Ynet reported.
The fire also spread to a building next to the hotel.
The owners of at least 20 such bed & breakfast hotels (“tzimmers”) in Akko returned Thursday morning after the riots to burnt and ruined establishments, Israel’s Hebrew-language Channel N12 News journalist Carmel Libman reported.
Michal Matalon, owner of the guest house Melisanda in Akko, said, “All of Akko is on fire. They went through 20 Jewish B & Bs one by one. There are no police and no fire brigades and it’s just awful and terrible.”
בעלי צימרים בעכו חזרו הבוקר אחרי המהומות לצימרים שרופים וחרבים. מיכל מטלון, בעלת בית האירוח מליסנדה בעכו: "כל עכו עולה באש. הם עברו אחד אחד על 20 צימרים של יהודים. אין משטרה ואין מכבי אש וזה פשוט נורא ואיום" pic.twitter.com/uR2iLMDnPM
— Carmel Libman כרמל ליבמן (@libman_carmel)
The Akko municipality said that because of the violence taking place, police and firefighters are unable to enter the Old City, according to a post in the “Yediot Akko” Facebook group.
Beginning Monday, as with Lod, Haifa, Tiberias, Ramle and Yafo (Jaffa), Jews in the city of Akko — and the city itself — have come under attack by its Israeli Arab population.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Thursday that law enforcement personnel will begin to impose administrative detention on people suspected of disturbing the peace.
Abu Ubaida, a spokesperson for the military wing of Gaza’s ruling Hamas terrorist organization, said in recorded remarks that the Israeli Arab population “the first line of defense.”
The Hamas spokesperson declared, “”Our people in the West Bank and occupied Palestine since 1948 are the first line of defense for Jerusalem. Our weapon is your weapon, our blood is your blood and our fate is your fate.”