Rocket warning sirens were triggered in several southern towns near the Gaza Strip earlier Wednesday morning, following clashes between police and Palestinians inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
The IDF Home Front Command told residents of Sderot and a number of nearby communities to take shelter.
The military said it was looking into the matter.
The alerts were triggered hours after clashes at the Temple Mount, which came amid heightened tensions at the flashpoint holy site during Ramadan and the start of Passover.
The decision by police to enter the mosque was condemned by Jordan, which controls the body that administers the Temple Mount, with the foreign ministry in Amman accusing Israeli forces of “storming” Al-Aqsa and assaulting worshippers.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s spokesman warned Israel against “crossing red lines” at holy sites, saying this could trigger a “big explosion.”
“We hold the occupation government fully responsible for any deterioration, and it must act responsibly and stop this absurdity, which will have dangerous consequences for everyone,” Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a statement carried by the official Wafa news agency.
The Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group denounced the police’s actions as a “crime” and warned of consequences.
In a statement, police said dozens of masked youths barricaded themselves inside the mosque atop the Temple Mount with fireworks, clubs and rocks following evening prayers, while locking the doors and placing barricades at the entrances.
The force said officers tried to convince those inside to leave but were ultimately forced to enter the mosque, where they were attacked with rocks and fireworks.
Police added that dozens of suspects were arrested and that “the rioters caused damage to the mosque and desecrated it.”
During the clashes, an officer was struck in the leg by a rock, according to police, who did not provide any details on his condition. Palestinian reports said dozens were wounded, many of them apparently from smoke inhalation.
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