Israel Launches Airstrikes After Hit From Gaza and Lebanon

Following a day of rocket fire from the Palestinian territories and from Lebanon, the Israeli military claimed it had hit targets in the Gaza Strip.

In Gaza, two explosions were heard late on Thursday, but it was not immediately clear what was the target.

While the Security Cabinet of Israel was debating how to respond to the missile launch, airstrikes occurred.

In recent days, tensions have increased as a result of turmoil at Jerusalem’s holiest site, as police raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque and beat Palestinians who had barricaded themselves inside.

Rocket fire from Gaza has increased due to the unrest in Jerusalem, and on Thursday, militants in Lebanon fired over 30 rockets into Israel, sending civilians into bomb shelters and injuring at least two, according to the country’s military.

According to the Israeli military, 25 of the 34 rockets that were launched across the border were shot down by the Iron Dome aerial defense system.

Five more rockets landed on Israeli soil, and security authorities said they were looking into the other strikes.

Given that Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militant organization that controls much of southern Lebanon, is Israel’s fiercest foe, the unusually huge rocket barrage stoked worries of a wider conflict.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime leader of Israel, has threatened to take “strong action.”

He added that Israelis, despite their political differences, remain unified in the face of external threats, saying in a statement late on Thursday, “We will strike our enemies and they will pay a price for every act of aggression.”

Israeli military spokesperson Richard Hecht claimed the army made a crystal-clear connection between the rocket firing and the current turmoil in Jerusalem during a briefing with the media.

It’s a Palestinian-focused gathering, he claimed, adding that extremist organizations like Hamas or Islamic Jihad might be involved.

He added nevertheless that the army thought Hezbollah and the Lebanese government knew what had happened and shared blame. There are “all sorts of situations,” he said, declining to speculate on Israel’s possible responses.

Israeli police stormed into the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the center of Jerusalem’s Old City with tear gas and stun grenades, prompting protests from Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip earlier on Thursday and late on Wednesday night.

Hezbollah denounced Israel’s invasion of Al-Aqsa on Thursday, calling it “a grave crime.” The shrine, which is the third-holiest place in Islam, is located on a hilltop that Jews consider to be the Temple Mount, which is the most sacred place in Judaism.

The rocket barrage, which activated air raid sirens throughout the north of the country, was not claimed by any side in Lebanon.

According to a Lebanese security official, rather than Hezbollah fighters, the country’s security services think the rockets were fired from Lebanon by a Palestinian terrorist group.

There were no casualties on the Lebanese side, according to the official.

Requests for comment from a Hezbollah spokeswoman went unanswered. Since the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006 ended in a draw, both sides have refrained from going to war in full.

Since Israel looks to have intensified its covert conflict against Iranian-linked targets in Syria, another close ally of Iran, Israel’s main foe in the area, tensions have been building along the Lebanese border.

Two Iranian military advisers were murdered and the nation’s two busiest airports were temporarily shut down by suspected Israeli airstrikes in Syria in recent weeks. According to Mr. Hecht, the rocket fire on Thursday was not thought to be related to the situation in Syria.

Principal Deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said in Washington: “Israel has every right to defend themselves and has valid security concerns.”

Yet, he also encouraged restraint in Jerusalem. We stress the significance of maintaining the historic status quo at the holy sites in Jerusalem, and any unilateral action that endangers the existing quo is unacceptable to us, the official said.

According to the Galilee Medical Center, the rocket fire from Lebanon on Thursday struck Israel with shrapnel, injuring at least two individuals. In the Arab village of Fassouta, they included a 19-year-old male injured while driving and a 26-year-old man struck while operating a motorcycle. A bomb squad reportedly removed many fragments from locations in the north, according to Israeli police.