JERUSALEM, Israel – Israel says it pounded several targets in the Gaza Strip on Thursday after Palestinian terrorists fired several rockets into the country overnight.
Terrorists launched the first rocket around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, which damaged a wall near a home in the southern Israeli city of Sderot. Gazans fired four more rockets early Thursday morning, but they were all intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. There were no casualties.
“In response to the 1st rocket attack on Israel tonight, we struck an underground complex in Gaza used to produce rocket engines. This will significantly impede rocket manufacturing capabilities in Gaza. We hold Hamas responsible for all terrorist activities emanating from Gaza,” Israel’s military said.
Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Ran Kochav told Army Radio that the cross-border strikes were “the most significant” since Israel’s 11-day war with the Hamas terror group last May. Hamas governs the coastal enclave.
Tensions have been escalating in Jerusalem for weeks, which has seen almost daily clashes between Muslim rioters and Israeli police on the Temple Mount and attacks on Jews in the Old City. Israel has also endured a violent wave of Palestinian terror attacks that have killed 14 people and wounded many others.
On Wednesday, hundreds of Israeli ultra-nationalists marched towards predominately Palestinian areas of Jerusalem despite objections from Israeli police. Police refused to approve the flag march and feared it would antagonize Palestinians and ignite more violence in the tinderbox city.
Police blocked the demonstrators from approaching Damascus Gate, which is the site of repeated unrest that led up to last year’s war in May. The marchers waved Israeli flags and chanted, while some got into physical altercations with police.
The IDF spokesman says the military is “trying to deescalate the situation and separate the fronts,” but is more concerned about tensions on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem than threats from Gaza.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Gaza has become the more stable front,” said Kochav.
The Temple Mount is the emotional epicenter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Two Jewish temples once stood there, and it is also the third holiest site in Islam. The site has become especially tense as holidays for the three major religions overlapped for the first time in three decades. Muslims are observing the fasting month of Ramadan, Jews are observing Passover, and Christians are observing Easter
Non-Muslims are allowed to visit the site but to preserve the fragile status quo there, they are not allowed to pray or perform religious rituals.
Palestinian terror groups have characterized themselves as the “defenders” of the Jerusalem holy site. On Wednesday, Hamas warned that Israel would bear “full responsibility” if it allowed the Israeli marchers to “approach our holy sites.”
Following the overnight strikes between Israel and Gaza, Hamas terror chief Ismail Haniyeh said, “we are still at the beginning of the battle.”
“As we defeated the so-called Flag March, we will defeat the policy of invading [Al-Aqsa],” Haniyeh said.
While critics accuse Israeli police of using heavy-handed tactics against Palestinians on the Temple Mount, Israel accuses Palestinian leaders of inciting violence.
“I view with utmost severity the remarks accusing Israel of the violence directed against us, and there are those who are encouraging rock-throwing and the use of violence against the citizens of the State of Israel,” said Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. “This is unacceptable to us. This is a reward for the inciters, especially Hamas, which are trying to ignite violence in Jerusalem. We will not allow this to happen.”
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