Tensions continue to escalate between Israel and its neighboring regions, with Israeli forces striking sites in Lebanon and Gaza in retaliation for rocket attacks they blame on Hamas.
The rising hostilities follow police raids on the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, coinciding with the Jewish Passover holiday.
In Gaza, Israel claims its jets targeted ten Hamas sites, including tunnels and weapons manufacturing and development locations. The Israeli military also struck three Hamas infrastructure targets in southern Lebanon near the Rashidiyeh refugee camp near Tyre. Lebanese security sources report that the strike hit a small structure on farmland near the area where rockets were launched earlier.
Hamas condemned the Israeli attack on Lebanon, and tensions in the region remain high. The rocket attacks from Lebanon towards northern Israel represent the largest assault since the 2006 war between Israel and the heavily armed Hezbollah movement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel’s response would exact a significant price on its enemies.
As Israeli jets conducted strikes in Gaza, rockets were fired in response, setting off sirens in Israeli towns and cities near the border. There were no serious casualties, and only one rocket hit a target, damaging a house in the southern town of Sderot.
Read: Tensions rise in Jerusalem as Israeli police confront Muslim worshippers at Al-Aqsa Mosque
The Israeli police raids at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem have fueled the ongoing confrontations. The compound is the third holiest site in Islam, with hundreds of thousands of Muslims praying there during Ramadan. It is also the most sacred Jewish site, the Temple Mount, and has long been a flashpoint for tensions.
The current security situation presents further challenges for Netanyahu’s religious-nationalist government, which is already grappling with widespread protests over its suspended plans to limit the powers of the Supreme Court. However, opposition leader Yair Lapid stated that the government could count on cross-party support following the rocket attack.
The United Nations Security Council held a closed-door meeting to address the crisis, concerned that the confrontation could escalate further after a year of rising Israeli-Palestinian violence. The US Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations, Robert Wood, urged all parties to work towards calming tensions.
