Israel carries out air raid in central Gaza strip second time in week.
Israel carried out air attacks in the central Gaza Strip for the second time this week, with fighter jets attacking an underground complex used to produce rocket engines.
The raids took place early in the morning on Thursday. There were no reports of casualties right away.
A missile fired from Gaza impacted southern Israel earlier in the night, inflicting minor damage to a house but no injuries, according to Israeli authorities.
Following its raids on the embattled coastal enclave, Israel reported four more rockets were fired from Gaza, but were intercepted by air defence systems.
The rocket launches were not claimed by any Palestinian faction.
Hamas, which governs Gaza, said in a statement that Israel’s attack will only strengthen Palestinian resolve to “fight the occupation and increase their support for Jerusalem and its people.”
The clashes follow over a month of deadly violence between Israel and Palestine, with the focus on Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, also known as the Temple Mount by Jews.
According to Palestinian media, Israeli police attacked the compound before daybreak on Thursday, targeting worshipers with tear gas and rubber bullets, while Palestinian youngsters retaliated with petrol bombs.
Hundreds of rioters hurled stones and petrol bombs at the mosque, Israeli police stated, charging that “a violent breakaway group is preventing Muslim worshipers from entering the mosque and causing damage to the facility.”
It claimed that seven Palestinians, all of whom were inhabitants of occupied east Jerusalem, had been detained on suspicion of participating in “violent episodes” on Wednesday.
Israeli police had stopped Jewish ultra-nationalist protesters from accessing the Muslim sector of Jerusalem’s Old City just hours before.
Following last year’s 11-day Israeli assault on Gaza, which killed more than 250 Palestinians in Gaza and 13 Israelis, a surge of violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory has sparked fears of a return to a larger confrontation.
More than 1,000 ultra-nationalist demonstrators waving Israeli flags gathered early Wednesday evening, some yelling “death to the Arabs,” but police prevented them from reaching Damascus Gate and the Muslim district of the Old City.
After being forbidden from the Damascus Gate area earlier in the day by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben Gvir, a controversial opposition politician, led the protest.
Israel launched its first raid on Gaza in months on Tuesday, in response to the Palestinian enclave’s first rocket launch since January.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his “grave concern” over the escalating situation in Jerusalem.
He went on to say that he was in communication with the parties to urge them to “do everything they can to reduce tensions and avoid incendiary acts and words.”
Israeli troops murdered at least 29 Palestinians in West Bank operations in March, while 14 Israelis were slain in street attacks.
Last week, Israeli riot police stormed the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, injuring at least 158 Palestinian Muslims.
Palestinians claim that Israel has encroached on Al-Aqsa by allowing Jewish worshipers to enter the holy site. They claim that the action violates a centuries-old policy that allows non-Muslims to enter but not pray.
Israeli politicians have stated that all religions will be able to worship freely in Jerusalem.
Al-Aqsa is the third holiest site in Islam, as well as the site of two ancient Jewish temples.
In numerous negotiations, Palestinian leaders have requested that occupied East Jerusalem, with its Abrahamic holy sites, be designated as the capital of a future state.
After the 1967 conflict, Israel seized East Jerusalem in a move that was unlawful under international law. Israel claims Jerusalem as its eternal capital.
