A gunshot was fired in the air during a confrontation between Jews and Arabs in the mixed city of Acre Saturday evening.

The clash between Arab and Jewish residents of the city began Friday afternoon and escalated Saturday evening into a general confrontation between the Arab residents and yeshiva students.

A large number of police officers arrived at the scene of the confrontation at the Wolfson neighborhood at Acre's northern entrance.

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Acre's mayor, Shimon Lankri and leading members of the Arab sector in the city, including MK Abas Zkoor (United Arab List) also arrived at the scene.

According to eyewitnesses, the yeshiva students were performing the traditional Simhat Torah holiday celebrations, and at the same time, the Muslim residents of the neighborhood gathered, claiming the celebrations constituted a provocation.

One eyewitness reported that the yeshiva's security guard fired a gunshot in the air, causing an escalation in the conflict.

The clashes began Friday with loud arguments between the residents of the neighborhood and the yeshiva students, who wanted to celebrate the Jewish holiday in the predominantly Muslim neighborhood.

There had been tension in the neighborhood since the beginning of Ramadan and a decision was made to publicly broadcast excerpts from the Koran in the evening following the daily fast.

About two weeks ago, police confiscated speakers from the house that broadcasted the prayers, but following intervention by MK Zkoor and others from the Arab sector, an agreement was reached stating that the prayer could be broadcast at a low volume for two minutes each evening, only during the Ramadan, in order to announce the end of the fast.

Members of Acre's Jewish community considered the city's agreement a "submission," and called it a violation of city code, as the neighborhood is residential and has no prayer site.

The neighborhood's Arab residents said that because of the neighborhood's physical distance from the old city of Acre, they cannot hear the muezzin announcing the end of the fast.

They further asserted that 95 percent of the neighborhood's residents are Arab Muslims, and therefore, no harm exists to the Jewish community in broadcasting the prayers.

The Arab residents also said that the yeshiva students in the neighborhood perform religious ceremonies in the center of the neighborhood on a weekly basis and are never provoked.