Two news missiles were fired Friday from the Palestinian enclave of Gaza in the direction of Israelafter clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters, some 50 of whom were injured on the esplanade of mosques in East Jerusalem.
Since Monday, several rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas Islamists, towards Israel, triggering Israeli airstrikes on the enclave. They caused no casualties and most of the projectiles were intercepted by the Israeli missile defense system.
“One missile hit a field near the border with northern Gaza and another fell into the enclave,” the Israeli army said on Twitter. Witnesses say one person was injured after the rocket fell near his home in Gaza.
Four attacks between March 22 and April 7
The violence comes in a context of escalation after four attacks in Israel between March 22 and April 7, killing a total of 14. Two of the attacks were committed in the metropolis of Tel Aviv by Palestinians from west bankPalestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
In the wake of these attacks, the Israeli military conducted several operations in the West Bank, while clashes between the Israeli police and Palestinians in East Jerusalem, the Palestinian part occupied and annexed by Israel, increased.
On Friday morning, Israeli forces re-entered Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site and Judaism’s holiest site known as the Temple Mount, and Palestinian youths threw rocks at them.
“Major concerns”
Police say before dawn “masked rioters carrying Hamas flags” threw stones at the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest place of worship, located beneath the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said at least 57 Palestinians were injured, two seriously, in the clashes.
After clashes that left more than 200 Palestinians injured for a week, Israeli authorities closed border crossings this weekend, allowing Palestinians to move from the West Bank to Jerusalem. But Palestinians managed to get there illegally.
Thousands of believers were able to perform the afternoon prayers thanks to a silence on this third Friday of the Islamic holy month Ramadanwhich coincided with the end of the Passover celebrations.
After the prayers, a mini-drone flew over the esplanade and fired tear gas at some worshipers, causing panic, an AFP team noted. Police claimed to have “used means to disperse a mob” trying to damage one of its gatehouses.
“We are deeply concerned about the escalation of violence in the occupied Palestinian territories and in Israel over the past month,” said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The rocket attacks are the largest since Hamas’ deadly 11-day war against Israel in May 2021 after weeks of clashes and tensions in Jerusalem.
Call for US intervention
On Thursday, US Secretary of State for Near East Affairs, Yaël Lempert, and the envoy in charge of Israeli-Palestinian relations, Hady Amr, met Palestinian Authority officials of Mahmoud Abbas, who sits in the West Bank. .
Mr Abbas “demanded the urgent intervention of the US administration to end the Israeli escalation once and for all,” said a Palestinian official.
