Rioters in Bnei Brak attacked a bus on Sunday night, smashed its windows and confronted the passengers.
The bus driver was lightly injured in the incident and was taken for treatment at Sheba Hospital in Tel Hashomer.
The bus was then evacuated from passengers, and then the protesters took over and set it on fire. The fire hit power cables and approached nearby residential buildings. Residents of the homes were instructed to leave their homes for fear of an explosion and damage to the power cables.
Police officers who arrived at the scene about an hour after the attack threw stun grenades towards the protesters in an attempt to disperse them. At the same time, firefighters arrived at the scene and extinguished the fire.
Earlier on Sunday, Bnei Brak Mayor Avraham Rubinstein was removed from a gathering in the city after several rioters attacked his vehicle and tried to attack him.
At the same time, an Egged bus was pelted with rocks. The driver fled the scene and the rioters stole equipment from the bus.
In an attempt to lower the flames, Degel HaTorah chairman MK Moshe Gafni read a message he received from Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky.
"He said that I should say on his behalf that these demonstrations should be stopped, and he called on the Israel Police to stop the terrible things they are doing to the residents of Bnei Brak who are innocent of any crime," MK Gafni said at an emergency meeting of the haredi factions in the Bnei Brak municipality.