Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip fired a rocket into southern Israel on Saturday night, which was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system, as attacks from the enclave continued into a second day and threatened to intensify.
The attack triggered sirens in the town of Sderot and surrounding communities at 9 p.m., sending residents into bomb shelters. Soldiers operating the Iron Dome shot down the incoming projectile, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Israeli leaders have called for calm on all sides in Jerusalem, though police on Saturday night prepared for the violence to continue.
Over the course of Friday night and the predawn hours of Saturday morning, terrorists in the enclave launched at least 36 projectiles into southern Israel — toward the city of Ashkelon and the Eshkol, Sdot Negev, Sha’ar Hanegev and Hof Ashkelon regions — several of which landed inside Israeli communities, where they damaged a number of buildings and vehicles. Six of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome, according to the IDF.
In retaliation, Israeli fighter jets bombed a number of Hamas in Gaza, including rocket launchers and underground infrastructure, and an IDF tank also struck a Hamas observation post on the border.
In light of the attacks, the military issued a number of safety instructions to residents of southern Israel, keeping people away from the border and limiting the sizes of crowds.
Militants in the Gaza Strip have carried out 36 launches towards Israel's southern communities. Only six have been intercepted. Although no casualties or injuries have been reported, heavy damage was done to many agricultural fields in the south.
Rocket strikes have forced many Israeli families to take cover in bomb shelters, while the sirens sounded in the southern part of the country. Two Gaza-based militant organisations took responsibility for the attacks.
Despite neither of the groups belonging to Hamas, Israel still holds the organisation that governs Gaza responsible for any attacks emanating from the territories it controls, even if the launches are not carried out by its own militants.
A Hamas spokesman suggested the launches were connected to the situation in Jerusalem and that the attacks were done to "protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque", one of the holiest sites in Islam.
The statement from the organisation hinted at the recent escalation of tensions in Jerusalem. Israeli and Palestinians have been clashing since the beginning of Ramadan on 12 April, but the tensions have recently geared up, as some Palestinians claimed that police have tried to prevent them from holding their usual Ramadan evening gatherings outside Damascus Gate - close to the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
In the last few days, Arab youths have been attacking religious Jews and uploading their assaults on TikTok and other social media networks.
The most recent attack was documented on Friday, when clashes erupted between Arabs and Israeli police shortly after the noon prayers. Four police officers were hurt in those riots.
Similar attacks have also been seen in Tel Aviv and Jaffa, where Jews and Arabs have been living together for decades.
“Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper;
ReplyDeleteThe LORD is your shade on your right hand.”
—Psalm 121:4-5
“I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. “In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
ReplyDelete—Zechariah 12:9-10