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The militant group Hamas has launched rockets into Israel after days of violence at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque between Israeli police and Muslim protesters that left hundreds of Palestinians injured.
The fire occurred after the six-hour deadline Hamas had sent to Israel to withdraw its forces from the mosque grounds, a sacred place for both Muslims and Jews. Television footage shows smoke rising from the hills near Jerusalem, farther from Israel than any rocket launched in recent years.
The Israeli army responded with airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, including one that appeared to be aimed at a senior Hamas military commander. Israeli Defense Force spokesman Jonathan Conricus said the military had “green light” to achieve military goals until Hamas “received the message and learned the lesson.”
Gaza health officials said up to 20 people had been killed, including nine children, and 65 injured in the airstrikes. More airstrikes are expected.
One of the Hamas rockets struck an Israeli house on the outskirts of Jerusalem, unharmed, and an Israeli civilian was slightly injured after his car was hit by an anti-tank missile near the Gaza Strip border.
Hamas had crossed a “red line” with its latest rescuer, now nearly 50 rockets, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who warned that this fighting could “continue for a while.”
“We will not tolerate any attack on our territory, our capital, our citizens and soldiers. Whoever attacks us will pay a heavy price, “Netanyahu said Monday evening.
The Israeli army called for public meetings and schools to be restricted to central Israel as it prepared more Hamas rockets.
Over the past three days, violence has escalated in East Jerusalem with hundreds of Palestinians injured after Israeli riot police used stun grenades and officers on horseback to break protests over planned evictions at home and restrictions on the mosque. The demonstrations coincided with the celebrations of Ramadan.
Growing tension has become a diplomatic problem for Israel, which has faced condemnation from Arab nations and the Gulf for police actions at the mosque and has made statements of deep concern on the part of allies, including the US and the EU, for their plans to expel dozens of Palestinians from nearby neighborhoods to make way for Jewish settlers.
Israel has tried temper increasing tensions changing the route of an annual parade of right-wing settlers through East Jerusalem, and retardant the planned evictions of Palestinians in the Arab quarter of Sheikh Jarrah. At the annual Jerusalem Day celebrations, flag-waving Israelis often march through the Muslim quarter of the Old City to commemorate the 1967 conquest of Jerusalem by the Jewish state.
Hamas has fired about a dozen rockets at Israeli civilians over the past week as images of police violence at the mosque spread across the Arab world. Hamas issued a warning Monday that Israel should withdraw its forces from the mosque grounds and Sheikh Jarrah’s neighborhood.
Rockets fire on Israel from Hamas-controlled city of Gaza © Mahmud Hams / AFP / Getty
Israelis wave national flags during a Jerusalem Day march © Ariel Schalit / AP
Just after six in the afternoon, when the deadline expired, the air raid sirens sounded over Jerusalem and the nearby city of Beit Shemesh. Israel’s Channel 13 showed smoke rising from the hills surrounding Jerusalem. At least seven rockets were fired and one was intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome defense system, the military said.
The area where the mosque sits, called the Temple Mount by the Jews, is the holiest site of Judaism and is the original home of the second temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. Many Jews worship the western wall, the surviving part of the temple, and face its direction during prayers.
On Monday morning, Israeli riot police had rushed back to the mosque grounds to disperse thousands of devotees who had spent the night inside. More than 300 Palestinians were injured and about 20 police officers needed medical attention, Palestinian and Israeli doctors said. Seven Israeli civilians were also injured.
The government intervened on Sunday in a case of eviction it had previously dismissed as a private property dispute, and the attorney general called for a delay in the Supreme Court ruling to be handed down on Monday.
But tensions have remained high: the Israeli army canceled the war games scheduled for the month to focus on the possibility of Hamas climbing, which controls the Gaza Strip.
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