A street brawl between Eritreans supporting and opposing their country’s regime resulted in the deaths of two Eritrean men in Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial hub, on Saturday, according to Israeli police.
The confrontation took place on HaHagana Street in Tel Aviv, where the groups threw stones at each other, leaving eight other people injured, the police said in a statement.
“Two Eritrean men were killed in the clash,” the statement said, citing medical sources. The police did not state how they died, but Israeli media reported that they suffered stab wounds.
Authorities say an investigation into the matter has commenced.
In September 2023, similar clashes broke out between two Eritrean groups which left dozens injured including Israeli policemen who tried to quell the unrest.
Thousands of asylum seekers from Eritrea reside in Israel, the majority of whom arrived illegally from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula years ago.
They have settled in various impoverished neighbourhoods within the coastal city of Tel Aviv.
Since Eritrea’s formal independence in 1993, the country has been ruled by authoritarian President Isaias Afwerki.
The East African nation is among the world’s most isolated states and ranks near the bottom globally for press freedom, human rights,