L’The Israeli army carried out a series of strikes in the Gaza Strip early Thursday in retaliation for a rocket fire from this territory under the control of the Islamists of Hamas, the second exchange of its kind in 48 hours amid tensions linked to holy sites in Jerusalem.
On Wednesday evening, a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip fell in a field in the Israeli town of Sderot (south) without causing injuries.
And early Thursday, witnesses and Palestinian security sources reported a series of Israeli strikes in the center of the Gaza Strip, a micro-territory of 2.3 million inhabitants under Israeli blockade, without however mentioning injuries.
“These strikes on the Gaza Strip will increase the resolve of our people and the resistance… to defend our holy sites in Jerusalem no matter what the sacrifices,” the spokesperson said in a statement. of Hamas, Hazem Qassem.
These exchanges of fire, the second this week, come after clashes this weekend between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli police on the Esplanade of the Mosques in Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam and the first sacred site in Judaism under its name of Mount du Temple.
“Provocation”
Palestinians and several the region as a gesture of provocation.
Israeli police prevented hundreds of Jewish nationalist demonstrators from approaching the Muslim quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem on Wednesday evening in order to avoid clashes that could lead to an escalation between Israel and Palestinian movements.
Nationalist organizations had called for a large march in the Old City of Jerusalem, where the Esplanade of the Mosques is located, a demonstration considered a gesture of “provocation” on the part of the government.
More than a thousand demonstrators carrying Israeli flags gathered in the early evening in Tsahal Square, near the town hall, opposite the Old City.
And hundreds of demonstrators tried to approach Damascus Gate, the main entrance to the city’s Muslim quarter.
But the police blocked these demonstrators, including many supporters of far-right MP Itamar Ben Gvir, who had been banned from these places earlier in the day by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
“Deeply Concerned”
“I will not allow Ben Gvir’s political provocation to endanger Israeli soldiers and police, and further complicate their mission,” the prime minister said.
I say it clearly (…), I will not bend,” retorted Mr. Ben Gvir to AFP. “Under what law am I not allowed to enter through the Damascus Gate?”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “deeply concerned about the deteriorating situation in Jerusalem,” his spokesman in New York said on Wednesday. “He is in contact with all parties to reduce tensions, prevent inflammatory actions and rhetoric.”
On Friday and Sunday, clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli police had injured more than 170 on the esplanade of the Mosques, while the celebrations of the Muslim month of Ramadan and Passover coincided.
The coalition government of Naftali Bennett is also weakened by the escalation of tensions in Jerusalem, in particular on the esplanade of the Mosques, and recent deadly attacks in Israel.
The Arab Raam party, the first in history to back an Israeli government, on Sunday suspended its support for the coalition due to violence, while right-wing lawmakers within the coalition are under pressure to quit a government deemed too much favorable to the Arab minority, according to part of the opposition.
04/21/2022 01:19:41 – Jerusalem (AFP) – © 2022 AFP