Middle East
Tense situation between Israelis and Palestinians
An Israeli police officer stands in front of right-wing activists who have gathered for a flag march in Jerusalem’s Old City. Photo: Ariel Schalit/AP/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Israel does not rest. After a wave of terror in recent weeks, clashes in Jerusalem have recently exacerbated tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. Now the sirens are wailing again in Israel.
Militant Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired several rockets at the Israeli border area again on Thursday night. The sirens sounded twice in the southern part of the country, as the Israeli army announced on Twitter.
In the second attack, four rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip. However, these were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system, it said. A few hours earlier, militant Palestinians had fired the first rocket. The Israeli army said warning sirens sounded in the city of Sderot. A bullet was identified.
Flag march stopped
In response to the first attack, the Israeli army said it fired on an underground complex in the Gaza Strip used to build rocket engines. This will limit the Palestinians’ ability to manufacture rockets. “We hold Hamas responsible for all terrorist activities originating in the Gaza Strip,” the army wrote on Twitter.
Earlier, Israeli police forces stopped a controversial flag march by nationalist Israelis in Jerusalem. Militant Palestinian organizations in the Gaza Strip had issued sharp warnings against the march in advance. You have “your finger on the trigger,” it said in a joint statement.
First rockets since the beginning of the year
The situation in Jerusalem has recently been extremely tense again. In the past few days, Palestinians have clashed with Israeli security forces on the Temple Mount (Al-Haram al-Sharif). There were numerous injuries. The clashes further intensified tensions after a wave of terror in recent weeks.
On Monday, militant Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired a rocket at the Israeli border area for the first time since the beginning of the year. The missile was intercepted by the missile defense system. In response, Israel’s air force attacked a target of the Islamist Hamas, which rules in the Gaza Strip, on Tuesday night.