Israel declares emergency in Lod as Middle East unrest spreads

The premier made announced it in a statement saying reinforcements were being deployed to the city, where wide-scale riots erupted by some of the Arab residents and endangering communities.

The statement comes after an Israeli Arab was killed in Lod the night before violence soared between Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Palestinian militants fired hundreds of rockets deep into Israel, while Israel carried out heavy air strikes on Gaza.

Reportedly, more than 1,000 rockets have now been fired by Palestinian militants over 38 hours.

Israel's military says it is targeting militants in Gaza in response to rocket attacks on Jerusalem and other areas, targeting several areas after rockets were fired from the enclave. Following which, at least 36 Palestinians, including 10 children, have been killed.

It is said to be the most intense airstrikes in Gaza since the bombardment in 2014.

Following the bombardment from Israel, Hamas also launched rockets from the coastal territory towards Israel as a result of which five people were killed. Loud booms and air-raid sirens were heard across targeted cities, which included Tel Aviv, Ashkelon, Modiin, and Beersheba.

The Gaza-based Palestinian group, Hamas, has vowed to hit Israeli targets in retaliation against air strikes on Gaza Strip and the police attack on Palestinian worshippers at Al Aqsa Mosque.

The rocket fire came after Hamas, which rules Gaza, issued a warning to demanding Israel to stand down its security forces from the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem following days of violence against Palestinians.

Israeli police, in its latest act of violence, stormed the compound on Monday for a third consecutive day, firing rubber-coated steel rounds, stun grenades and tear gas at Palestinian worshippers inside the mosque in the final days of the holy month of Ramadan.

More than 700 Palestinians were injured in Jerusalem and across the occupied West Bank in recent weeks.