Israel launched an air strike on the Gaza Strip in response to rockets allegedly fired from the Palestinian territories following recent vio...
Israel launched an air strike on the Gaza Strip in response to rockets allegedly fired from the Palestinian territories following recent violence around occupied Jerusalem.
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| More than 170 people, mostly Palestinian protesters, have been injured in recent violence. Photo: Reuters |
According to the foreign news agency AFP, the Israeli army said that its special forces made five arrests overnight in the occupied West Bank, the deadliest raids by Israel since the escalation of attacks and protests four weeks ago. The series continues.
The center of tension has been the controversial enclosure of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the old city adjacent to Israel in occupied Jerusalem, known to Jews as Temple Mount.
Read also: Israeli police raid Al-Aqsa Mosque again, 17 Palestinians injured
Palestinian worshipers who have gathered for Ramadan prayers are outraged by restrictions on their access to the mosque, as well as visits by Jewish pilgrims under the protection of a heavy contingent of Israeli police.
Jews are allowed to visit the site at certain times but are not allowed to worship there.
Violence in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, along with the Jewish Eid al-Fitr holiday, has raised fears of a recurrence of similar incidents last year, which led to an 11-day war. During which parts of Gaza were destroyed.
In the first such incident since January, warning sirens were sounded after an alleged rocket was fired into southern Israel from a blocked Hamas-controlled area.
The Israeli military says a rocket fired by Iron Dome air defense system failed.
Read also: Israeli army raids Al-Aqsa Mosque, hundreds of Palestinians injured
Hours later, the Israeli air force said it had targeted a Hamas weapons factory in retaliation.
According to eyewitnesses and security sources in Gaza, Hamas claimed to have used its anti-aircraft defense system to thwart the attack, but no one was killed.
No group in the region, which has a population of 2.3 million, immediately claimed responsibility for the rocket.
The attack comes after weeks of escalating violence that has killed a total of 23 Palestinian and Arab Israelis, including alleged assailants who targeted Israelis in four deadly attacks.
The rocket fire also took place over a weekend of Israeli-Palestinian violence in and around the Al-Aqsa Mosque, injuring more than 170 people, most of them Palestinians. There were protesters.
Also read: Israeli forces fire at Al-Aqsa Mosque, 3 Palestinians killed
Diplomatic sources said the UN Security Council is scheduled to meet on Tuesday to discuss escalating violence.
Israeli police say they have refused to allow Jewish nationalists to march around the old city walls.
Following a similar wave of violence last year, rockets were fired from Gaza during a similar parade, sparking an 11-day war.
Read also: Palestinian fisherman killed by Israeli forces
At least 260 Palestinians were killed in the conflict, including many militants, and 14 Israelis, including a soldier, were killed.
Incidents on the grounds of Al-Aqsa Mosque, the holiest site for Jews and the third holiest site for Muslims, have sparked violence several times over the past century.
Hamas has vowed to maintain the status of Al-Aqsa Mosque as a pure Islamic site.
But analysts say Hamas does not want a war right now, partly because of a lack of military capabilities.
Analysts say Hamas is also wary of a new conflict that could force Israel to revoke thousands of work permits issued to poor Gazans in recent months, with unemployment at close to 50 percent.
Read also: Palestinian siblings killed by Israeli army firing
But another Palestinian faction, Islamic Jihad, says threats from the enemy to cut off aid to Gaza will not force us to remain silent on what is happening in occupied Jerusalem.
Regarding Islamic Jihad, Israel says it has thousands of fighters and rockets.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said yesterday that the United States was "deeply concerned" about the tension and that senior US officials were in telephone contact with their counterparts from Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Arab governments.
A State Department spokesman said: "We urge all parties to maintain the historic identity and status of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and to refrain from any" provocative "actions."
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