Israel strikes Lebanon and Gaza following militant rocket fire
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AP
Fire and smoke rise following an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza Strip, Friday, April 7, 2023.
JERUSALEM Israel conducted rare airstrikes in Lebanon on Friday, a sharp escalation that sparked fears of a broader conflict after militants fired dozens of rockets from Lebanon into Israeli territory. Israel also continued bombarding the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon what analysts described as the most serious border violence since Israel's 2006 war with Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group threatened to push the confrontation into a dangerous new phase following violence at one of Jerusalem's holiest sites.
Although the Israeli military was quick to emphasize that its warplanes struck sites belonging to only Palestinian militant groups, the barrage risks drawing in Israel's bitter foe Hezbollah, which controls much of southern Lebanon and has in the past portrayed itself as a defender of the Palestinians and the contested city of Jerusalem. The Israeli military said that it held Lebanon accountable for the attacks originating from its territory.
Israeli missiles struck an open field near the Palestinian refugee camp of Rashidiyeh, close to the coastal southern city of Tyre, according to an Associated Press photographer. Other strikes hit a small bridge and power transformer in the nearby town of Maaliya and a flock of sheep in the town of Qalili, on the outskirts of the Palestinian camp. 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. The strikes, he said, 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.
The Israeli military said its strikes hit mostly what it described as Hamas militant infrastructure in Lebanon and Gaza.
The Israeli airstrikes came in response to an unusually large barrage of rockets from Lebanon after Israeli police raids at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem spiraled into unrest and sparked outrage in the Arab world. The holy site, a tinderbox for Israeli-Palestinian tensions, sits on a hilltop sacred to both Muslims and Jews. In 2021, an escalation also triggered by clashes at the Al-Aqsa compound spilled over into an 11-day war between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers.
On Friday, violence again broke out at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Chaos erupted at one of the entrances to the esplanade before dawn prayers on Friday as Israeli police wielding batons descended on crowds of Palestinian worshippers, who chanted slogans praising Hamas as they tried to squeeze into the site. An hour later, according to videos, people leaving the prayers staged a vast protest on the limestone courtyard, with Palestinians raising their fists and shouting in support of Hamas rocket fire, and Israeli police forced their way into the compound.
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.
The scenes of Israeli police beating and dispersing Palestinians and an hour later, entering the plaza itself in force could further inflame tensions during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a time of heightened religious fervor.
The Israeli military said it was clear that both sides wanted to avoid a full-blown conflict. "Quiet will be answered with quiet," Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, a spokesman for the Israeli military told reporters early Friday. But, he added, "All our eyes are now on Jerusalem."
The Israeli military said on Friday that Palestinian militants in Gaza had so far fired 44 rockets from Gaza, only 23 of which crossed into Israeli territory. The others either failed to launch, fell into the Mediterranean Sea, or were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome aerial defense system, the military said. Most missiles struck open areas in Israel's south, but one landed in the town of Sderot, damaging a house. There were no Israeli casualties.
Fatima Shbair / AP
Friday, April 7, 2023 at 7:32 am