First shelling this year
Israel intercepts rockets from the Gaza Strip
04/18/2022, 10:41 p.m
Violence erupted around the Temple Mount in Jerusalem over the weekend. The radical Islamic Hamas speaks of a “red line”. Now, for the first time in months, the Israeli border area has been shelled from the Gaza Strip. The Iron Dome intercepts the missile.
According to the Israeli army, a rocket was fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip. The army said it was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile shield. There were initially no reports of damage or casualties. It was the first rocket attack from the Gaza Strip on Israel since early January.
The rocket attack comes after a weekend of violent clashes around the Temple Mount in Jerusalem that have injured more than 170 people since Friday, most of them Palestinian protesters.
The situation in Jerusalem’s old town has been particularly tense in recent days because the Muslim month of fasting, Ramadan, coincides with the Jewish festival of Passover and Easter this year. The Temple Mount is sacred to all three monotheistic religions. Jewish believers are allowed to visit the square in front of the Al-Aqsa Mosque at certain times, but they are not allowed to pray there.
The Israeli government has repeatedly said the security forces have a “free hand” in dealing with demonstrators. The radical Islamist Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, warned on Sunday that “Al-Aqsa belongs to us and only to us”. She will defend the Palestinians’ right to pray there. The organization had described the Al-Aqsa Mosque as a “red line” and accused Israel of attacking believers.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, on the other hand, spoke of Hamas’ “wild hate campaign” against Israel. “This is the truth: Israel is doing everything to ensure that everyone can celebrate their festivals safely as always – Jews, Muslims and Christians,” he said, according to his office.