Israel hit by protests over police killing of youth
Israel has faced protests over an off-duty police officer’s killing of a young man of Ethiopian origin and braced for more yesterday as the incident drew fresh accusations of racism.
Crowds of Ethiopian-Israelis battled police and blocked highways late Monday and through the night in various parts of the country after the shooting on Sunday evening.
Further protests were expected later yesterday, when Solomon Teka, said to be 18 or 19, was set to be buried.
Teka was shot in Kiryat Haim, a town near the northern port city of Haifa.
His death sparked outrage among members of the community, who say their young people live in constant fear of police harassment because they are black.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP that after a night of violent protest focused on a police station in Kiryat Haim, demonstrators were still gathered yesterday morning.
“Yesterday evening there were disturbances in Kiryat Haim. Three police officers were injured,” he said.
“There were about 1,000 people in the area of the police station.”
A police statement said the protesters tried to storm the police building, hurling stones and bottles and launching fireworks.
TV footage showed burning tyres in the middle of a traffic intersection.
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