A man entered the UK Embassy grounds in Tel Aviv this afternoon, threatening to commit suicide if he wasn't given asylum.
The man is an Arab, apparently a Palestinian collaborator with Israeli security forces.
Israeli police were called to the scene and are taking action inside the Embassy grounds on request of the embassy personnel.
Source: Ynet (Hebrew)
Update:
The man has been identified as Nadim Injaz, a 28 year old from Ramallah. He is demanding asylum in the UK as well as a plane to fly him there.
According to an interview to the Israeli press 2 months ago his troubles started in 1995. He was 16 at the time. When his neighbors discovered his brother was colloborating with Israeli security forces, they started harassing him. He moved to Ramallah where he was told he could only stay if he worked with the Palestinian gangs. Together with two other men he broke into hundreds of homes in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and brought any weapons they stole back to Ramallah.
In 2000 he turned to the Israeli police. The police promised him a residency permit, but in fact did nothing. He continued being harassed by the Palestinians, and had to finance himself by stealing. He has no passport and therefore cannot leave the country [the Palestinian authority has never declared a state].
Update 2:
Israeli police stormed the compound and disarmed the man. According to one report, the gun he held was a toy gun.
More can be read on the BBC. It is interesting to note their last comment:
Our correspondent said incidents of this nature were very rare despite the large number of Israeli citizens who carry firearms.
The large number of Israeli citizens who carry firearms are soldiers. Israel has very tough gun laws and it is almost impossible to get a gun if you do not need one for you work (ie, soldiers, police and security guards). On the other hand, I think incidents of Palestinians/Arabs storming into a place and threatening violence are not as rare.
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