This new gunfight on Wednesday evening thus raises fears of a military escalation against the background of tensions linked to the holy sites in Jerusalem.
Palestinian armed groups launched a salvo of rockets from the Gaza Strip towards Israel on Thursday (April 21), which carried out a series of attacks in this area under the control of Hamas Islamists, raising fears of another military escalation against a backdrop of Tensions Over Jerusalem’s Holy Places†
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On Wednesday evening, a rocket, the second this week, was fired from the Gaza Strip and fell into a field in the Israeli city of Sderot (south) without causing injuries. In addition, according to witnesses and security sources, the Israeli army carried out a series of attacks in the center of this micro-area of 2.3 million inhabitants. “Israeli military jets targeted military positions and the entrance to a tunnel leading to an underground complex that stores chemicals used to power missiles”said the Israeli army. “These attacks on the Gaza Strip will increase our people’s determination and resistance (…) to defend our holy sites in Jerusalem, regardless of the sacrifices”Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said in a statement.
Shortly after these retaliatory attacks, however, four more rockets were fired at Israel, where they were intercepted by the missile defense shield.iron domethe army said as alarm sirens sounded in the middle of the night in Israeli towns bordering the Gaza Strip. The firefights — the second this week and one of the most intense since the end of the 11-day war between Israel and Hamas in May 2021 – Come after clashes this weekend between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police on the Esplanade of the Jerusalem Mosques, the third holiest site in Islam and the first holiest site in Judaism under the name Temple Mount.
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On Thursday morning, Israeli police said in a statement that “dozens of rioters threw stones and firebombs from the Al-Aqsa mosqueagainst the police. †A violent group prevents Muslim worshipers from entering the mosque, causing damage to the site‘ the press release adds. Seven Palestinians, residents of East Jerusalem, suspected of participating in Wednesday’s “violent incidentson the esplanade were also arrested, police said.
“Provocation”
Palestinians and several the region as a gesture of provocation. Israeli police prevented hundreds of Jewish nationalist protesters from approaching the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City on Wednesday evening to avoid clashes that could lead to an escalation between Israel and Palestinian movements.
I will not allow Ben Gvir’s political provocation to endanger Israeli soldiers and police and further complicate their mission.”
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett
Nationalist organizations had called for a large march in the Old City of Jerusalem, where the Esplanade of the Mosques is located, a demonstration considered a gesture of “provocation” from the government. More than a thousand protesters carrying Israeli flags gathered in the early evening in Tsahal Square, near City Hall, opposite the Old City. And hundreds of protesters tried to approach Damascus Gate, the main entrance to the city’s Muslim quarter. But police blocked these protesters, including many supporters of far-right MP Itamar Ben Gvir, who had been banned from these places earlier in the day by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
‘Very concerned’
“I will not allow Ben Gvir’s political provocation to endanger Israeli soldiers and police and further complicate their mission”said the prime minister. “I say it clearly (…), I will not bow”replied AFP Itamar Ben Gvir. “By what law may I not enter the Damascus Gate?”
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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “very concerned about the deteriorating situation in Jerusalem”his spokesman in New York said Wednesday. “He is in contact with all parties to reduce tensions, prevent incendiary actions and rhetoric.” Clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police left more than 170 injured on the mosque esplanade on Friday and Sunday, as the celebrations of the Muslim month of Ramadan and Passover coincided.
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