Pro-Palestinian supporters have clashed with pro-Israel supporters and Caulfield South residents on Friday night.

Full plastic drink bottles and racial slurs were thrown, while one man was arrested after running from the pro-Palestinian side, through a police line and into the pro-Israel group.

Police say about 150 people gathered along Hawthorn Road, with more than two dozen police officers separating the groups.

“Our main priority is keeping the peace and ensuring the event is safe for those attending and the broader community,” police said in a statement.

“If police detect or receive any reports of prejudice motivated crime, they will be taken seriously and thoroughly investigated.”

In a statement, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan reaffirmed her call for Victorians to “show each other love, care and support in these difficult times”.

 “It is our diversity that makes us great, and our compassion that unites us — there is never any place for anti-Semitism or Islamophobia in Victoria,” she said. 

Earlier, members of the pro-Palestinian group prayed in Princes Park at sunset, near the Central Shule Chabad synagogue.

A spokesperson for Free Palestine Melbourne says the rally in Princes Park was organised on Friday in response to an arson attack on a local fast food store owned by a man with Palestinian heritage.

Police say they are treating the fire at Burgertory as suspicious but earlier said it was not linked to the owner’s attendance at a pro-Palestinian rally.

Emergency services were called to the fire at the Burgertory shop on Glen Huntly Road in Caulfield about 4:30am.

Burgertory CEO Hash Tayeh, who is of Palestinian heritage, last week shared several posts on social media, defending his participation in the rally and said he was not anti-Semitic.

“I am deeply troubled by the spread of rumours suggesting that we harbor [sic] anti-Semitic sentiments,” Mr Tayeh said in a statement.

“I cannot stress enough that this could not be further from the truth. My participation in Pro-Palestinian rallies was driven by a desire for peace and a ceasefire, not violence or division.”

Investigators on Friday afternoon said they were treating the fire as suspicious, and were “confident” of an arrest.

“There is nothing to indicate this incident is related to any religious or political involvement and we’re treating it as a suspicious fire,” Inspector Scott Dwyer said.

“I would warn people not to make assumptions or draw lines of inquiry that aren’t there between this incident and anything else that is occurring.”