After a weekend of unrest at a holy site in Jerusalem, Israel launched its first assault on the Gaza Strip in months early on Tuesday in response to an alleged missile launch from the Palestinian territory.
Five people were arrested overnight in the occupied West Bank by Israeli special forces, according to the army, which has experienced a spike in violence and protest since a rise in assaults and protests four weeks ago.
Disputes have erupted over control of the disputed Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, which the Jewish people refer to as the Temple Mount.
Ramadan prayers have been disrupted by visits by devout Jews under Israeli police protection, as well as limitations on Palestinians’ own access.
At specific times of the day, Jews are permitted to visit the place but are not permitted to worship there.
Fears of a recurrence of last year’s events have been aroused by the violence, which coincides with the Jewish Passover festival and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
In the first such incident since early January, warning sirens went off in southern Israel on Monday, following what seemed to be a missile fired from the blockaded enclave, controlled by Hamas, towards southern Israel.
The Iron Dome air defence system, according to the Israeli military, successfully intercepted the rocket. Several hours later, Israel’s air force claimed to have bombed the headquarters of a Hamas weapons plant.
Witnesses and security sources in Gaza allege Hamas employed its “anti-aircraft defences” to thwart the attack, which resulted in no injuries. There was no instant claim of guilt from any of the 2.3 million residents of the congested enclave.
A total of 23 Palestinians and Arab-Israelis have been killed in recent weeks, including four accused terrorists who are reported to have targeted Israelis in four deadly incidents. According to an AFP count, 14 people were killed in the assaults, most of them civilians.
An Israeli-Palestinian clash surrounding the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound over the weekend left over 170 Palestinians injured, most of them protesters.
The UN Security Council is scheduled to meet on Tuesday to examine the recent rise in violence, according to diplomatic sources. A planned march by Jewish nationalists around the walls of the Old City was denied by Israeli authorities.
An 11-day conflict erupted in response to a similar procession last year, which was disrupted by rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.
The fighting claimed the lives of 260 Palestinians. Many of them were combatants, as well as 14 Israelis, one of whom was a soldier. The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the third-holiest place in Islam and the holiest site in Judaism, has been the scene of several attacks during the past century.
“A pristine Islamic site” is what Hamas has sworn to protect at Al Aqsa.
Recent reports say that because the movement’s military capabilities have been weakened by the previous conflict, it does not want a fight.
As a result, they claim, Hamas is fearful that a fresh battle could lead Israel to revoke the work permits it has recently handed to inhabitants of impoverished Gaza, where the jobless rate is close to 50%.
However, Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian group, stated on Monday that “the enemy’s threats to cut off supplies to Gaza would not compel us into quiet over what is occurring in Jerusalem.” Israel claims that Islamic Jihad has thousands of militants and missiles in the enclave.
US State Department spokeswoman Ned Price said on Monday that the United States was “very worried” about the tensions and that top US officials had been in communication by telephone with their colleagues from Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and Arab states by telephone.
Al Aqsa’s “historic status quo” should be preserved and “provocative” actions avoided, he warned.
Works at The Truth International Magazine. My area of interest includes international relations, peace & conflict studies, qualitative & quantitative research in social sciences, and world politics. Reach@ [email protected]
