World Bulletin/News Desk

Israeli police on Sunday arrested 16 people suspected of attacking an Arab bus driver in central Israel.

Israeli TV quoted police sources as saying that 16 Israelis were arrested early Sunday in central Israel over suspicions of attacking an Arab driver working for Egged transport company,

The Arab driver was assaulted by a group of people in the Israeli city of Petah Tikva, east of Tel Aviv, the police said without providing further details.

Several Arab bus drivers in Jerusalem had accused Israeli extremists of attacking them on racist grounds.

Around eight million people currently live inside Israel, with Arab citizens accounting for roughly 20 percent of them, according to official Israeli figures.

Around 500,000 Jewish settlers now live in more than 100 settlements in the West Bank built since Israel occupied the region along with East Jerusalem in 1967. The Palestinians want these areas, along with the Gaza Strip, to establish their future state.