Israeli police in Jerusalem. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – The terrorist stabbing attacks that took place in Tel Aviv and Gush Etzion on Monday—killing 26-year-old Israeli woman Dahlia Lemkus and 20-year-old Israel Defense Forces Staff Sgt. Almog Shiloni—emboldened an already violent Arab sector.

A senior source with Israel’s Northern District police department told Israel Hayom that police deployment in the area has been increased following concerns that the residents of some of the Galilee’s Arab towns might attempt to harm their Jewish neighbors.

Recent events have prompted the Israel Police to bolster deployment nationwide, as well as urge public vigilance. The Border Police have also increased their presence on the ground in several volatile locations.

The Arab town of Kafr Kanna was the scene of several riots on Monday. Dozens of masked men clashed with police forces, hurling stones and firing flares at the troops, and setting tires on fire. The Northern District Police Central Control Unit was called to the scene and eventually dispersed the riot, arresting dozens of people.

In Nazareth, some 100 demonstrators clashed with police in the city’s Maayan Square, and 20 people were detained for questioning. In a separate incident, a bus traveling through the city’s Paulus VI Road was stoned. None of the passengers were hurt, but the bus sustained some damage.

Also on Monday, unknown vandals scrawled graffiti reading “Death to Jews” alongside a swastika on one of the exterior walls of the Salesian Church of Jesus the Adolescent in Nazareth.