Israeli jets bombed Hamas sites in the Gaza Strip early Friday following the most sustained barrage of rockets launched from Lebanon and Gaza in 17 years.
(Bloomberg) — Israeli jets bombed Hamas sites in the Gaza Strip early Friday following the most sustained barrage of rockets launched from Lebanon and Gaza in 17 years.
The strikes, which targeted underground tunnels and sites used for weapons production, were ordered following a late-night emergency meeting of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet.
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His office said a series of decisions had been made based on recommendations of the military and security services “in response to the firing at the citizens of Israel in both the north and the south.”
“Israel’s response, tonight and in the future, will exact a heavy price,” he said.
So far, the rockets have injured two Israelis in the north. Israel’s hits on Gaza caused property damage but no injuries, according to Hamas officials. Islamic Jihad, a smaller group, claimed responsibility for the rockets from Lebanon.
The Israeli military originally urged civilians in the south to remain near shelters but later lifted the order, suggesting some kind of informal truce may have been reached.
Nonetheless, a shooting attack in the occupied West Bank’s Jordan Valley left two Israeli sisters dead and their mother critically injured, the army reported at midday.
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The military earlier said it wasn’t seeking more confrontation. “Quiet will be answered with quiet,” said Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, a spokesman for the Israeli military, in an early briefing Friday. “Nobody wants an escalation right now.”
The fighting broke out after confrontations that began at the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem in the midst of the overlap between the holy Muslim month of Ramadan and the Jewish feast of Passover. Young men barricaded themselves into a prayer room at Al Aqsa with crude weapons, Israeli police reported on Wednesday night. The police went in to clear them out, triggering outrage from Hamas, which launched rockets.
Friday prayers at Al Aqsa will pose another test for the Israeli authorities who are seeking to maintain calm.
Good Friday and Easter will only add to crowd size and tensions in and around Jerusalem.
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The US says it is very concerned about the rising violence and has called on all sides to de-escalate.
Hecht, the Israeli military spokesman, said there were numerous messages seeking calm being passed among a range of governments and organizations, including the Egyptians. A spokesman for Unifil, a UN force on the southern Lebanon border, said the Israelis gave the force a warning with details before striking. He added that he’s in touch with both Lebanese and Israeli forces and neither wants war.
After more rocket fire from Gaza on Friday, Israeli tanks and aircraft struck Hamas military posts along the border.
Dozens of mortars and rockets have now been fired at Israel. Although the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas rules in Gaza, it also has a strong presence in Palestinian refugee camps in southern Lebanon, an area largely overseen by the group Hezbollah.
Hamas and Hezbollah are supported by Iran, Israel’s main enemy, and these battles appear part of an ongoing shadow war between them.
(Updates with developments in 6th and 7th paragraphs, including shooting attack)
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