Hamas rocket attacks sparked Israeli revenge in Gaza

A militant group of Hamas has fired rockets at Israel after days of violence in the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, leaving hundreds of Palestinians wounded among Israeli police and Muslim Protestants.

Hamas fired a rocket at the Israeli after 18:00 hours to force its way out of the mosque complex, a holy site for both Muslims and Jews. Television footage showed smoke coming from hills near Jerusalem rather than rockets fired in recent years.

The Israeli military carried out attacks on the Gaza Strip, including targeting a Hamas military commander-in-chief. Jonathan Conricus, a spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces, said the military has a “green light” to achieve military goals until Hamas “receives the message and learns its lesson.”

Gaza health officials say 20 people have been killed, including nine children and 65 injured in airstrikes. More air attacks are expected.

One of the Hamas rockets struck an Israeli home on the outskirts of Jerusalem, uninjured, and a civilian Israeli was lightly wounded after his car was hit by an anti-tank missile near the border with the Gaza Strip.

Hamas has crossed the “red line” with its latest volley, now nearly 50 rockets, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, warning that this fighting could “continue for some time.”

“We will not tolerate attacks on our territory, in our capital, against our citizens and soldiers. Whoever attacks us will pay a high price, ”Netanyahu said Monday evening.

The Israeli military called for public gatherings and schools to be limited to central Israel as it was ready to get more rockets from Hamas.

In the past three days, violence has escalated in East Jerusalem, as hundreds of Palestinians have been injured after Israeli police use riot gear and officers to break protests over planned evictions and restrictions in the mosque. The demonstrations coincided with the celebrations of Ramadan.

Growing tension has become a diplomatic issue for Israel, which has been condemned by Arab and Gulf nations for police actions in the mosque and has received statements of deep concern among allies, including plans to expel dozens of Palestinians from the US and EU. the surrounding neighborhood to make way for Jewish settlers.

Israel has sought it temper the rising voltages every year changing the route of the parade of right-wing settlers through East Jerusalem, and delayed Sheikh Jarrah planned to release Palestinians in the Arab district. Every year in Jerusalem Day celebrations, flag-waving Israelis typically roam the Muslim Quarter of the Old Quarter in 1967 to commemorate the conquest of Jerusalem by Jewish states.

Hamas fired about a dozen rockets at Israeli civilians last week as images of mosque police violence were spreading around the Arab world. Hamas warned on Monday that Israel would withdraw its forces from the mosque complex and the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

Just after 6 p.m., when the period ended, air sirens sounded in Jerusalem and the nearby town of Beit Shemesh. The Israel Canal showed 13 smoke from the hills surrounding Jerusalem. The military said at least seven rockets were fired, and one was intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome defense system.

The site of the mosque, called the Temple Mount by the Jews, is the largest holy site of Judaism and is the original home of the second temple destroyed by the Romans in the 70s. Many Jews worship in the Western Wall, in the surviving part of the temple, and pray in their direction.

On Monday morning, Israeli riot police re-entered the mosque complex to disperse thousands of devotees who 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 on Sunday introduced a case of eviction dismissed as a private property dispute, and the attorney general asked for a postponement of the ruling by the National Court on Monday.

Tensions have remained high – with the Israeli army canceling its planned war games in the month, with Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, focusing on the possibility of escalation.