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The Israeli military struck targets in the Gaza Strip early Friday, pushing the area closer to further conflagration after a day of rocket fire along the country’s northern and southern borders following two days of unrest at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site.
At least two loud explosions could be heard in Gaza. It was not immediately clear what was hit.
The airstrikes came after militants in Lebanon fired rockets into Israel earlier in the day, forcing people across Israel’s northern border into bomb shelters, killing at least two people. In Gaza, militants also fired rockets into Israel.
Israeli military officials said the rocket fire on both sides was carried out by Palestinian militants in connection with this week’s violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the heart of Jerusalem’s Old City, where Israeli police stormed the building with tear gas and stun grenades. two days straight. The scene of violence from the mosque has raised tensions in the region.
The airstrike came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was meeting with his security cabinet to discuss the rocket attack. He vowed an “aggressive response.”
“We will attack our enemies and we will pay the price for every act of aggression,” he said, adding that Israel remains united in the face of external threats despite its political differences.
There was no immediate Israeli response in Lebanon, where militants fired 34 rockets along the border. The military said 25 were shot down by the Iron Dome air defense system. Five rockets hit Israeli territory and the rest of the attacks are under investigation. Israel said two people were wounded.
The unusually large salvo of rockets sparked fears of more conflagrations, as Israel’s bitter enemy, the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, controls much of southern Lebanon. Over the past two days, tensions have risen at the holy compound of the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem and along Israel’s border with Gaza.
In a briefing with journalists, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht, the Israeli military spokesman, said the army drew a clear connection between the Lebanese rocket fire and the recent unrest in Jerusalem.
“This is a Palestinian-oriented event,” he said, adding that Hamas or the Islamic Jihad militant group, which is based in Gaza but also operates in Lebanon, may be involved. But he said the army believed Hezbollah and the Lebanese government knew what was going on and were also responsible. He declined to say whether Israel could respond, saying there were “all scenarios.”
Rockets from Lebanon
Earlier on Thursday and late Wednesday night, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired several rockets into Israel in protest over Israeli police raids on the Al-Aqsa Mosque. On Thursday, Hezbollah condemned the Israeli attack on Al-Aqsa. The Temple – the third holiest site in Islam – stands on a hilltop revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism.
No faction in Lebanon has claimed responsibility for the rocket salvo.
A Lebanese security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the country’s security forces believed the rocket was fired by a Lebanon-based Palestinian militant group, not Hezbollah militants. The official said there were no casualties on the Lebanese side.
A Hezbollah spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. Israel and Hezbollah have avoided conflict entirely since the 34-day war in 2006 ended in a draw.
Tensions have simmered along the Lebanese border as Israel appears to have ratcheted up a shadow war against Iran-linked targets in Syria, another close ally of Iran, Israel’s main enemy in the region. Suspected Israeli airstrikes in Syria in recent weeks have killed two Iranian military advisers and destroyed the country’s two largest airports. Hecht said Thursday’s rocket fire is not believed to be related to events in Syria.
Israel’s attack on the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem – one of the holiest sites in both Islam and Judaism – sparked fresh clashes and calls for peace as Easter and Ramadan coincide.
Thursday rocket fire from Lebanon sent shrapnel flying that wounded at least two people, according to Galilee Medical Center. Israeli police said bomb squads removed several fragments from areas in the north.
Videos on social media showed huge plumes of dark smoke from the northern hills of Israel and streaks in the sky left by the Iron Dome. Widely circulated photos show shrapnel blowing holes in a street in the northern Israeli town of Shlomi and at least one building with leaking windows.
Canada strongly condemns the firing of rockets into Israel from southern Lebanon and Gaza. Our thoughts are with the civilians affected by the attack. Canada reiterates its call for calm during this important holiday.
The Lebanese army said it found missile launchers and “several rockets intended for launch” around the southern Lebanese towns of Zibqin and Qalila and was working to dismantle them.
The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad hailed the rocket as a “heroic operation against Israel’s crimes in the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
The leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which rules Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, visited Lebanon, where he met with the leader of the exiled Palestinian militant group last Thursday. “Our Palestinian people will not remain passive in the face of continued aggression,” he said.
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