Four Molotov cocktails were thrown early Friday morning toward the homes of refugees from Eritrea and Sudan and to a day care center in the Shapira neighborhood of southern Tel Aviv.

No one was injured in the racist attacks, and there was scant property damage caused. Shortly after the incident, large numbers of police swarmed the scene to investigate the incident.

Activists demonstrating against racism after a string of Molotov attacks on refugees in the Shapira neighborhood in Tel Aviv, Israel, on April 27, 2012 (Photo: Activestills)

The attacks are not the first in recent years to be suspected of being racially-motivated. In December 2010, a racially tinged demonstration was held in the same neighborhood against the large number of African refugees and migrant workers who reside there. The African community in Israel has been the target of numerous acts of violence in the past. In January of 2011, for example, a burning tire was thrown into the apartment five Sudanese refugees shared in Ashdod. The men suffered from smoke inhalation and two were hospitalized. Also in January of 2011, three teenage girls – the Israeli-born, Hebrew-speaking daughters of African migrant workers –  were beaten by a group of Jewish teenagers. The attackers, one of whom was armed with a knife, allegedly called them “dirty niggers.” One of the girls needed medical treatment for her injuries.

On Friday a group of around 200 protesters demonstrated in Shapira near the site of one of the fire-bombings. They were met by a number of neighborhood residents who argued with them about their support of the African migrants.