Following rocket fire, Israel launched strikes on Lebanon and Gaza

The 2006 Israeli-Israeli conflict in the 2006 al-Aqsa mosque: a breakthrough in tensions between the Palestinian militants and the IDF

Dozens of rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel on Thursday, the Israeli military said, in a major escalation that comes amid tensions over Israeli police raids at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

The country closed its northern airspace in the wake of the barrage. No deaths were reported as of Thursday afternoon, and it is not yet known which group in Lebanon launched the rockets.

The army of Lebanon told CNN that it had no news yet, and the Hezbollah group wouldn’t say anything at the moment. The leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas arrived in Lebanon for talks with Hezbollah officials after the incident.

Violence broke out at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday. Chaos erupted at one of the entrances to the esplanade before dawn prayer on Friday as Israeli police wielding batons descended on crowds of Palestinian worshippers who shouted slogans for Hamas while trying to get into the site. According to videos, after the prayers, people leaving the mosque staged a massive protest on the limestone courtyard, yelling in support of Hamas and Israeli police forced their way into the compound.

Footage from inside the mosque showed Israeli officers beating people with their batons and rifle-butts, then arresting hundreds of Palestinians. Israeli police said they entered the mosque after “hundreds of rioters” tried to barricade themselves inside.

The 2006 conflict was the most serious in years between Israel and Lebanon. A naval and aerial blockade was imposed on Israel and around 1,200 people died in an exchange of fire. Many rockets were fired into Israeli territory by Hezbollah.

The IDF defense official – who asked not to be named – told CNN Israel’s assumption was that Palestinian groups were behind the rocket attack, and that the IDF was “still figuring the whole dynamic of what happened this afternoon.”

The official added Israel had not fired artillery into southern Lebanon in response to the rockets, contradicting a report from the country’s National News Agency that Israeli shelling targeted the outskirts of Tyre.

Israeli missile strikes and rocket launchers hit a Palestinian refugee camp in Qalili, Lebanon, a day after the Arab Spring of 2022

In the spring of 2022, the IDF held a seminar to brief journalists and policy makers about an increase in tensions on the Lebanon border.

An Associated Press photographer says that Israeli missiles hit an open field near a Palestinian refugee camp. A small bridge and a power transformer, as well as a flock of sheep in Qalili on the outskirts of the Palestinian camp were hit by other strikes. Several sheep were killed and residents of the town, including Syrian refugees, reported minor injuries.

‘”I was sleeping and suddenly I couldn’t feel anything except the impact,” said Qalili resident Majid Abdelsattar. He said the strikes damaged his parents’ house and the family’s citrus orchard. The Lebanese military said it found another rocket launcher Friday after dismantling several the day before.

Police did not comment on the earlier beatings, but said security forces entered the holy compound after prayers in response to “masked suspects” who threw rocks toward officers at one of the gates.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/04/07/1168579149/israel-strikes-lebanon-and-gaza-following-militant-rocket-fire

Jerusalem’s silence will be answered by quiet, a spokesman for the Israeli military in the wake of the Gazan airstrikes

The Israeli military said it was clear that both sides wanted to avoid a full-blown conflict. The quiet will be answered by quiet, said a spokesman for the Israeli military. “Our eyes are focused on Jerusalem,” he said.

The Israeli military said it pounded Gaza with more airstrikes on Friday, hitting 10 targets that it described as tunnel infrastructure, along with weapons production and development sites belonging largely to the Hamas militant group. The Palestinian Health Ministry stated that there was some damage to the children’s hospital in Gaza City.

The ministry said that it was not the first time a health facility had been targeted.

“Israel’s response, tonight and beyond, will extract a heavy price from our enemies,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after his Security Cabinet meeting late Thursday.

Tensions have been rising along the Lebanon border as Israel seems to be ramping up it’s war against Iranian-linked targets in Syria, a close ally of Iran.

Suspected Israeli airstrikes in Syria in recent weeks have killed two Iranian military advisers and temporarily put the country’s two largest airports out of service. Hecht, the military spokesman, said Thursday’s rocket fire was not believed to be connected to events in Syria.

In Jerusalem, even as calm returned to at Al-Aqsa a few hours after the burst of violence, the situation remained tense ahead of midday Friday prayers.