Tel Aviv: IsraelUS Air Force and Palestinian militants opened fire across the region Gaza Clashes started again on the border early on Thursday JerusalemThe U.S. is the most vulnerable holy site, worsening an escalation similar to that in the lead-up to last year’s Israel-Gaza war.
Violence on the Gaza front, sparked by unrest between Israeli police and Palestinians in Jerusalem, appears to be the heaviest cross-border fighting since last year’s 11-day war and comes despite efforts to prevent a recurrence. A rocket fired from Gaza this week broke the peace in the months following the war.
Palestinian militants fired two rockets toward Israel from the Gaza Strip late Wednesday and early Thursday, and Israeli planes targeted seaside terrorist positions in the Hamas-ruled enclave. The Israeli military said one rocket landed in the southern Israeli town of Sedrot, which was a frequent target, and the other shortened and landed in Gaza. The launches set off air-raid sirens in parts of southern Israel, disturbing the peace of the Passover holiday week.
Early Thursday, Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes in the central Gaza Strip, local media reported. Smoke is seen rising in the air in the social media posts of the workers. The Israeli military said the airstrikes were aimed at a terrorist site and the entrance to a tunnel that led to an underground compound that held chemicals to make rockets.
The military later said its planes struck another Hamas compound after an anti-aircraft missile was fired from Gaza. It said the missile failed to hit its target and there were no reports of any casualties or damage.
The latest Israeli-Palestinian tensions boiled down to a series of deadly attacks by Palestinians against Israelis, after the military conducted a day-long arrest raid at a flashpoint in the West Bank city and spilled over into daily conflict in Jerusalem. This year, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan coincides with Passover, a time of religious rituals and a large number of people traveling to Jerusalem.
Israeli police said dozens of masked demonstrators hid in the al-Aqsa Mosque early Thursday, sealing doors and throwing stones and firecrackers. Police said they attempted to disperse the Palestinians by using “means of spreading rioting”, and that the forces did not enter the mosque itself.
A Palestinian official from the Waqf, which manages the site, said a large number of police used stun grenades to clear the site. He said police also fired stun grenades and rubber-covered bullets against Palestinians who sealed themselves inside the mosque. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the incident with the media.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said 20 people were injured, with one seriously injured.
Similar clashes have occurred throughout the week, while there were more fierce clashes at the site earlier this month, injuring more than 150 Palestinians and three police officers.
Palestinians have accused the Israeli police of using excessive force at the holy site, and Palestinian social media is flooded with videos showing Israeli forces attacking unarmed Palestinians, including women. Police say Palestinians instigated violence and have released their own videos showing young Palestinian men throwing stones and fireworks at security forces. Police say Palestinians are desecrating their own shrine and putting others at risk.
Jordan, which operates the al-Aqsa Mosque, held an emergency meeting of a regional committee on Thursday in what it called “illegal Israeli policies and measures” in Jerusalem.
The committee includes member countries that have recently normalized relations with Israel, including the United Arab Emirates. The country’s top diplomat Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid spoke on the phone on Thursday. Al Nahyan called for stability according to United Arab Emirates‘ State-run WAM news agency.
The scenes of rocket fire and repeated violence in Jerusalem are reminiscent of last year’s war. Last year, violence also spread to mixed Jewish-Arab cities, which has not occurred in the current wave of unrest.
On Wednesday, hundreds of flag-waving Israeli ultra-nationalists marched around Jerusalem’s old city towards the predominantly Palestinian territories, a demonstration of Israel’s control over the disputed city seen by Palestinians as provocation. War broke out during a similar march last year, when Gaza militants, proclaiming themselves guardians of Jerusalem, fired rockets toward the holy city.
Those events, along with other incidents, led to an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas, which killed more than 250 Palestinians and 14 in Israel, causing widespread damage in Gaza.
This year, Israeli police closed the Damascus Gate in the old city and the main road leading to the center of the Muslim quarter. After some scuffles and scuffles with the police, the marchers rallied near barricades, waved flags, sang songs and raised slogans.
Israeli nationalists staged such marches to try to claim sovereignty over East Jerusalem, which Israel seized along with the West Bank and Gaza in 1967, and annexed it in a move that has been recognized internationally. Recognition not received. The Palestinians want an independent state in all three regions and consider East Jerusalem as their capital.
The hilltop shrine in the Old City is the emotional base of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the epicenter of the violence of the past. Known to Muslims as the Al-Aqsa Mosque Complex, it is the third holiest site in Islam. It is also the holiest site in Judaism, revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, the site of their biblical temples.
Israel says it is maintaining a decades-old status quo at the site, which prevents Jews from praying there. But during the Passover holiday this year, visits to Jews have skyrocketed and in some cases Jews are praying on campus. Palestinians see the visit as a possible prelude to Israel’s capture of the site or partition, under police escort.
For Palestinians, the mosque complex, administered by Muslim clerics, is also a rare place in Israel-affiliated East Jerusalem where they have a measure of control.
Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza – the ruling Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad – have positioned themselves as defenders of the Jerusalem holy site. On Wednesday, Hamas said it would take “full responsibility for the consequences” if Israel allowed marchers to “access our holy sites”.
Violence on the Gaza front, sparked by unrest between Israeli police and Palestinians in Jerusalem, appears to be the heaviest cross-border fighting since last year’s 11-day war and comes despite efforts to prevent a recurrence. A rocket fired from Gaza this week broke the peace in the months following the war.
Palestinian militants fired two rockets toward Israel from the Gaza Strip late Wednesday and early Thursday, and Israeli planes targeted seaside terrorist positions in the Hamas-ruled enclave. The Israeli military said one rocket landed in the southern Israeli town of Sedrot, which was a frequent target, and the other shortened and landed in Gaza. The launches set off air-raid sirens in parts of southern Israel, disturbing the peace of the Passover holiday week.
Early Thursday, Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes in the central Gaza Strip, local media reported. Smoke is seen rising in the air in the social media posts of the workers. The Israeli military said the airstrikes were aimed at a terrorist site and the entrance to a tunnel that led to an underground compound that held chemicals to make rockets.
The military later said its planes struck another Hamas compound after an anti-aircraft missile was fired from Gaza. It said the missile failed to hit its target and there were no reports of any casualties or damage.
The latest Israeli-Palestinian tensions boiled down to a series of deadly attacks by Palestinians against Israelis, after the military conducted a day-long arrest raid at a flashpoint in the West Bank city and spilled over into daily conflict in Jerusalem. This year, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan coincides with Passover, a time of religious rituals and a large number of people traveling to Jerusalem.
Israeli police said dozens of masked demonstrators hid in the al-Aqsa Mosque early Thursday, sealing doors and throwing stones and firecrackers. Police said they attempted to disperse the Palestinians by using “means of spreading rioting”, and that the forces did not enter the mosque itself.
A Palestinian official from the Waqf, which manages the site, said a large number of police used stun grenades to clear the site. He said police also fired stun grenades and rubber-covered bullets against Palestinians who sealed themselves inside the mosque. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the incident with the media.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said 20 people were injured, with one seriously injured.
Similar clashes have occurred throughout the week, while there were more fierce clashes at the site earlier this month, injuring more than 150 Palestinians and three police officers.
Palestinians have accused the Israeli police of using excessive force at the holy site, and Palestinian social media is flooded with videos showing Israeli forces attacking unarmed Palestinians, including women. Police say Palestinians instigated violence and have released their own videos showing young Palestinian men throwing stones and fireworks at security forces. Police say Palestinians are desecrating their own shrine and putting others at risk.
Jordan, which operates the al-Aqsa Mosque, held an emergency meeting of a regional committee on Thursday in what it called “illegal Israeli policies and measures” in Jerusalem.
The committee includes member countries that have recently normalized relations with Israel, including the United Arab Emirates. The country’s top diplomat Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid spoke on the phone on Thursday. Al Nahyan called for stability according to United Arab Emirates‘ State-run WAM news agency.
The scenes of rocket fire and repeated violence in Jerusalem are reminiscent of last year’s war. Last year, violence also spread to mixed Jewish-Arab cities, which has not occurred in the current wave of unrest.
On Wednesday, hundreds of flag-waving Israeli ultra-nationalists marched around Jerusalem’s old city towards the predominantly Palestinian territories, a demonstration of Israel’s control over the disputed city seen by Palestinians as provocation. War broke out during a similar march last year, when Gaza militants, proclaiming themselves guardians of Jerusalem, fired rockets toward the holy city.
Those events, along with other incidents, led to an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas, which killed more than 250 Palestinians and 14 in Israel, causing widespread damage in Gaza.
This year, Israeli police closed the Damascus Gate in the old city and the main road leading to the center of the Muslim quarter. After some scuffles and scuffles with the police, the marchers rallied near barricades, waved flags, sang songs and raised slogans.
Israeli nationalists staged such marches to try to claim sovereignty over East Jerusalem, which Israel seized along with the West Bank and Gaza in 1967, and annexed it in a move that has been recognized internationally. Recognition not received. The Palestinians want an independent state in all three regions and consider East Jerusalem as their capital.
The hilltop shrine in the Old City is the emotional base of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the epicenter of the violence of the past. Known to Muslims as the Al-Aqsa Mosque Complex, it is the third holiest site in Islam. It is also the holiest site in Judaism, revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, the site of their biblical temples.
Israel says it is maintaining a decades-old status quo at the site, which prevents Jews from praying there. But during the Passover holiday this year, visits to Jews have skyrocketed and in some cases Jews are praying on campus. Palestinians see the visit as a possible prelude to Israel’s capture of the site or partition, under police escort.
For Palestinians, the mosque complex, administered by Muslim clerics, is also a rare place in Israel-affiliated East Jerusalem where they have a measure of control.
Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza – the ruling Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad – have positioned themselves as defenders of the Jerusalem holy site. On Wednesday, Hamas said it would take “full responsibility for the consequences” if Israel allowed marchers to “access our holy sites”.