Israeli fighter jets on Tuesday launched airstrikes on Gaza after militant group Hamas fired a rocket into Israel the previous day for the first time since January, leading to fears of a renewed conflict between both sides. The incident came as Israeli forces conducted multiple raids in the Temple Mount complex that have led to more than 150 Palestinian injuries since Friday.
“In response to the [rocket] launch from Gaza into Israel, we just targeted a Hamas weapons manufacturing site in Gaza,” the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said on Twitter. It added that “Hamas is responsible for all terror activity emanating from the Gaza Strip.”
עוד תיעוד מרצועת עזה הלילה. תקיפת אתרים של הפלגים הפלסטינים. נכון לעכשיו אין דיווח על נפגעים. יותר מוקדם דיווחו בעזה כי חמאס והגיהאד פינו מפקדות מחשש לתגובה ישראלית. pic.twitter.com/5rry5jPDMi
— Jack khoury.جاك خوري (@KhJacki) April 18, 2022
No casualties were reported in the airstrikes.
A Day earlier, Hamas launched a rocket into southern Israel triggering sirens in nearby towns. The IDF claimed that the rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system.
Hamas, however, said that the rocket was launched at “hostile Zionist warplanes.” The group claimed that Israeli planes had been active over the Gaza Strip on Monday.
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem congratulated the “resistance men” for launching the rocket and warned that Hamas will continue its “engagement with the Zionist enemy in all arenas of the struggle in retaliation for the aggression against Jerusalem and the holy sites.”
“The confrontation, which is a natural right of our people and its resistance against the usurping occupation, continues on all axes of conflict in Jerusalem, Gaza, the West Bank and the occupied interior [Israel],” he added.
Qassem also called the Israeli airstrike “a failed attempt to prevent our Palestinian people from defending the city of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque,” the third holiest site in Islam.
Terrorists in Gaza just fired a rocket into Israel.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) April 18, 2022
The Iron Dome Aerial Defense System intercepted the rocket. pic.twitter.com/jNyL06yS5q
Tensions have escalated in East Jerusalem since last week as Israeli security forces and Palestinians engaged in violent clashes near the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Temple Mount, also known as the Haram as-Sharif. Over 150 Palestinians and several Israelis have been injured in the fighting.
Palestinians accuse Israel of trying to change the status quo of the Temple Mount, which is the holiest site in Judaism, by allowing Jews to worship inside the complex. They have also been angered by the fact that ultranationalist Jewish groups have called for conducting animal sacrifices at the sensitive site.
Israel, however, has vowed not to alter the status quo and allow freedom of worship for all people. Israel has also said that the raids were in response to incitement by miscreants, who hurled stones at the Jewish holy site of the Western Wall, located near the Temple Mount.
Israel’s raids have been condemned by the Palestinian Authority (PA), the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Jordan, Iran, and regional organisations like the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League.
Russia also joined the list of countries critical of Israel’s actions. PA President Mahmoud Abbas and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation on Monday to discuss the situation in Jerusalem. According to Wafa News Agency, “Putin stressed Russia’s firm position in support of the rights of the Palestinian people” and vowed to support Palestine in all international forums.
Putin also “stressed his rejection of the Israeli practices that prevent worshippers from freely accessing the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the need to respect the existing historical status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem.”
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has so far refused to explicitly condemn Russian actions in Ukraine as Israel is keen on maintaining Russian cooperation regarding its airstrikes in Syria against Iranian proxies. In fact, he even spoke out against the Bucha massacre without explicitly naming Russia. This policy now seems to have backfired, as Russia has condemned Israeli actions despite the restraint shown by the Bennett administration in its policy on the Russia-Ukraine war.
Fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinians at the Temple Mount and surrounding areas are a regular affair and at times escalates into a wider conflict. In May 2021, Israel and Hamas fought an 11-day war in Gaza over Israeli raids in East Jerusalem.