Israel pounds Gaza and Lebanon after Netanyahu vowed ‘aggressive response’ to rocket attacks

Israel launched rare strikes in southern Lebanon in the early hours of this morning and pressed on with bombing targets in the Gaza Strip, marking a widening escalation in the region following violence at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier vowed to ‘strike out enemies’ who will ‘pay a price for every act of aggression’ after Palestinian militants fired nearly three dozen rockets from Lebanon at Israel.

Israel’s warplanes bombed targets belonging to Hamas militants near the southern city of Tyre in Lebanon at dawn today, the military said. 

The cross-border fighting erupted at a time of heightening religious tensions in the region, with fresh violence breaking out at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque before pre dawn prayers on Friday. 

The violence erupted again at the hilltop compound as Israeli police stationed at one of the gates forcibly dispersed vast crowds of worshippers who chanted praise for Hamas while pushing their way into the limestone courtyard. 

Videos from the scene showed police beating large groups of Palestinian men with sticks until they stumbled backward, falling and knocking down vendors’ tables.

Flames rise from the area after Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes on the central part of the Gaza Strip, on April 07, in Gaza City

Fire and smoke rise following an Israeli airstrike in the central Gaza Strip

Fire and smoke rise following an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza Strip, on Friday

Meanwhile, Israeli air strikes on Gaza resumed early Friday, after militants fired more rockets from the blockaded territory, setting off air raid sirens in the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon. Israel’s military said targets included the entry shaft to an underground network used for weapons manufacturing.

Several missiles fired by Israeli warplanes also struck an open field in the town of Qalili near the Palestinian refugee camp of Rashidiyeh, close to Lebanon’s coastal southern city of Tyre.  

Other missiles struck a bridge and power transformer in the nearby town of Maaliya and a farm on the outskirts of Rashidiyeh, killing several sheep.

Israeli strikes in Lebanon risk drawing Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia into the fighting, which could lead to war. The Iran-backed group, armed with thousands of rockets and missiles, holds sway over much of southern Lebanon and is viewed by Israel as a bitter foe.

The Israeli military was careful to note in its announcement about Friday’s attack that it was targeting only sites linked to Palestinian militants. In recent years, Hezbollah has stayed out of other flareups related to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which stands on a hilltop revered by Muslims and Jews.

The current round of violence began Wednesday after Israeli police twice raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City. That led to rocket fire from Gaza on Thursday and, in a significant escalation, the rocket barrage from Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his Security Cabinet for a three-hour meeting late Thursday. ‘Israel’s response, tonight and beyond, will extract a heavy price from our enemies,’ he said after the meeting.

Almost immediately, Palestinian militants in Gaza began firing rockets into southern Israel, setting off air raid sirens across the region. 

Loud explosions could be heard in Gaza from the Israeli strikes, as outgoing rockets whooshed into the skies toward Israel. 

There were reports on Thursday that Israel’s Iron Dome aerial defence system had intercepted 25 of 34 missiles fired from Lebanon into Israel and attributed by the Israeli security forces to Palestinian militants. 

For now, Palestinian militants have fired only short-range rockets from Gaza, rather than the long-range projectiles that can reach as far as Tel Aviv and typically invite harsher Israeli retaliation.

The Israeli military said the rocket fire on its northern and southern fronts was carried out by Palestinian militants in connection to this week’s violence at Al-Aqsa where Israeli police stormed into the building with tear gas and stun grenades to confront Palestinians barricaded inside on two straight days. The violent scenes from the mosque ratcheted up tensions across the region.

In a briefing with reporters, Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, said the army drew a clear connection between the Lebanese rocket fire and the recent unrest in Jerusalem.

‘It’s a Palestinian-oriented event,’ he said, adding that either the Hamas or Islamic Jihad militant groups, which are based in Gaza but also operate in Lebanon, could be involved. But he said the army believed that Hezbollah and the Lebanese government were aware of what happened and also held responsibility.

The UK’s Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said both sides in the Israel-Palestine dispute should ‘recommit themselves to a negotiated settlement’.

He said: ‘The UK condemns the indiscriminate rocket attacks from southern Lebanon and Gaza and recognises Israel’s right to self-defence.

‘Now is the time for all parties across the region to de-escalate tensions.

‘At the convergence of Passover, Ramadan and Easter, the UK calls for all parties to respect the historic status quo arrangements at Jerusalem’s holy sites and cease all provocative action.

‘The UK is a strong supporter of freedom of religion or belief and calls for places of worship to be respected.

‘We value Jordan’s important role as custodian of the holy sites in Jerusalem and condemns the Israeli police violence at the Al Aqsa Mosque.

‘When Israeli security forces conduct operations, they must ensure they are proportionate and in accordance with international law.’

The mosque – the third-holiest site in Islam – stands on a hilltop revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism. The competing claims to the site have repeatedly spilled over into violence over the years.

Fire and smoke rise following an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza Strip, Friday 7 April 2023

Smoke and flames rise from the area after Israeli warplanes attacked the Gaza Strip overnight

Fire and smoke rise following an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza Strip on Friday overnight

Clashes have escalated since Israeli police cracked down on reports of agitation at Al Aqsa

Smoke rises amid buildings during Israeli airstrikes in Gaza in response to rocket attacks

Struggling Prime Minister Netanyahu promised an aggressive response for attacks in Israel

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned the firing of rockets from Lebanon, adding that Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers were investigating and trying to find the perpetrators. 

Mikati said his government ‘categorically rejects any military escalation’ and the use of Lebanese territories to stage acts that threaten stability.

Hezbollah has condemned the Israeli police raids in Jerusalem. Both Israel and Hezbollah have avoided an all-out conflict since a 34-day war in 2006 ended in a draw.

The current escalation comes against the backdrop of Netanyahu’s domestic problems. For the past three months, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been demonstrating against his plans to overhaul the country’s judicial system, claiming it will lead the country toward authoritarianism.

Key military units, including fighter pilots, have threatened to stop reporting for duty if the overhaul is passed, drawing a warning from Defense Minister Yoav Gallant that Israel’s national security could be harmed by the divisive plan. 

Netanyahu said he was firing Gallant, but then backtracked as he put the overhaul on hold for several weeks. Critics could also accuse him of trying to use the crisis to divert attention from his domestic woes.

Netanyahu said that the domestic divisions had no impact on national security and that the country would remain united in the face of external threats.

Tensions have simmered along the Lebanese border as Israel appears to have ratcheted up its shadow war against Iranian-linked targets in Syria, another close ally of Iran, Israel’s archenemy in the region.

Suspected Israeli airstrikes in Syria in recent weeks have killed two Iranian military advisers and temporarily put the country’s two largest airports out of service. Hecht, the military spokesman, said Thursday’s rocket fire was not believed to be connected to events in Syria.

In Washington, the principal deputy State Department spokesman, Vedant Patel, said, ‘Israel has legitimate security concerns and has every right to defend themselves.’

But he also urged calm in Jerusalem, saying that ‘any unilateral action that jeopardizes the status quo to us is unacceptable,’ he said.

In Jerusalem, the situation remained tense at Al-Aqsa. For the previous two nights, Palestinians barricaded themselves in the mosque with stones and firecrackers.

Worshippers have been demanding the right to pray overnight inside the mosque – which authorities typically only permit during the last 10 days of the monthlong Ramadan holiday. They also have stayed in the mosque in protest over threats by religious Jews to carry out a ritual animal slaughter at the sacred site for Passover.

Israel did not try to prevent people from spending the night in the mosque early Friday – apparently because it was the weekend, when Jews do not visit the compound. But tensions could re-ignite Sunday when Jewish visits resume.

Israel bars ritual slaughter on the site, but calls by Jewish extremists to revive the practice, including offers of cash rewards to anyone who even attempts to bring an animal into the compound, have amplified fears among Muslims that Israel is plotting to take over the site

In this week’s violence, Israeli police fired stun grenades and rubber bullets to evict worshippers who had locked the doors of the building. Palestinians hurled stones and fireworks at officers. After a few hours of scuffles that left a trail of damage, police managed to drag everyone out of the compound.

Police fiercely beat Palestinians and arrested over 400 people. Israeli authorities control access to the area but the compound is administered by Islamic and Jordanian officials.

The violence at the site has resonated across the region, with condemnations pouring in from Muslim leaders.

Streaks of light are seen as Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercept rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, as seen from Ashkelon, 7 April 2023

A long exposure of an Israeli Iron Dome air defense system intercepting a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip

Smoke rises from a fire after rockets fired from Lebanon struck Bezet, north Israel, Thursday

Firefighters look to put out fires after rockets fired from Lebanon hit Bezet in Israel Thursday 

A man stands outside a building damaged in the aftermath of intercepted rocket fire launched from Lebanon and intercepted by Israel in its northern town of Shlomi on 6 April 2023

Israeli police block passage to Palestinians going to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan near the Damascus Gate of the Old City area in East Jerusalem on 5 April

Members of Israeli security force detain a Palestinian man at the Al-Aqsa compound, also known to Jews as the Temple Mount, amid initial clashes on Wednesday

On Thursday, Hezbollah condemned Israel’s storming of Al-Aqsa, calling it ‘a flagrant violation’. 

The shrine – the third-holiest site in Islam – stands on a hilltop revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism.

The importance of the mosque comes from its association with the Prophet Muhammad’s miraculous journey in which he travelled from Mecca to Jerusalem and then ascended to heaven.

Al-Aqsa also has a historical significance to Muslims, as it was the first qibla (direction of prayer) for Muslims before it was changed to Mecca. 

It is also the site where the second caliph, Umar, led the first Muslim prayer after the Muslims conquered Jerusalem in 638 CE.

The mosque is an important symbol of identity and a source of tension between Palestinians and Israelis.