IP - Violent clashes erupted after Israeli police attacked hundreds of Eritrean asylum-seekers during a gathering organized by the Eritrean embassy in Tel Aviv.

Iran PressMiddle East: Clashes began on Saturday outside a south Tel Aviv venue that was set to host an event organized by the Eritrean embassy in Israel.

According to a Reuters reporter at the scene, Israeli police fired stun grenades to break up the clashes. Footage on social media showed Eritrean government supporters beating anti-government protesters with clubs.

Hundreds of anti-government Eritreans came to the site to prevent it from taking place.

The protests were against the embassy marking 30 years of Eritrean independence, which has been marked by one-man rule under President Isaias Afwerki.

Similarly, violent protests have popped up all over the world as Eritrea, one of the world's most repressive countries, marks 30 years of independence with festivals held by Eritrea's diaspora across Europe and North America.

The demonstration turned violent when Police declared the gathering an illegal demonstration and ordered the street to be emptied.

Police used riot dispersal means and mounted forces to clear the Eritreans.

Tel Aviv's Ichilov Hospital said it treated 38 people wounded in the clashes, including a dozen with gunshot wounds. Police in a statement confirmed that its forces used live fire against rioters.

Police also arrested 10 Eritrean asylum seekers.

Police reinforced their personnel in the area, with reports of clashes between Eritreans and police, as well as between supporters and opponents of Eritrea's regime, continuing elsewhere in south Tel Aviv.

As of June, there were 17,850 asylum seekers from Eritrea in Israel, most of whom had arrived illegally through Egypt's Sinai Peninsula years ago.

They settled in a number of poor neighborhoods in the coastal city of Tel Aviv, the country's economic capital.

Eritrea is one of the world's most isolated states and sits near the bottom of global rankings for press freedom, human rights, civil liberties and economic development.

The nation in the Horn of Africa has one of the world’s worst human rights records, and the asylum-seekers fear death if they were to return.

Many young people are forced into military service with no end date, human rights groups and United Nations experts say.

Eritreans make up the majority of the more than 30,000 African asylum-seekers in Israel.

In Israel, they face an uncertain future as the state has attempted to deport them. 

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