Dozens of rockets were launched this Thursday from Lebanon towards Israel leaving two injured and property damage, in a moment of tension after the violent irruption of Israeli police at the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
Israel The US and Lebanon are still technically at war after several conflicts, and the border between the two is guarded by the United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) whose objective is to guarantee the ceasefire.
The Israeli army reported that 34 rockets were fired from Lebanon on Thursday toward Israel, of which 25 were intercepted by anti-aircraft defenseand at least five fell on Israeli territory.
Before the attack, alarm sirens sounded in the cities of Shlomi and Moshav Betzet, as well as in the Galilee region of northern Israel. No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks at this time. The last time a rocket was launched from Lebanon towards Israel was in April 2022.
For its part, the National Agency for Information on Lebanon reported that Israeli artillery fired “several shells from their positions on the border.” against two towns in southern Lebanon.
The agency, which did not report casualties, specified that the bombings occurred in response to the launch of “several Katyusha-type rockets” against Israel.
For his part, An Israeli military spokesman denied these reports, saying the army has not responded “so far.”.
The rocket attack came at a time when tensions were heightening after the intervention of the police in the Esplanade of the Mosques of Jerusalem. UNIFIL in Lebanon called for containment.
“The current situation is extremely serious. UNIFIL urges containment to prevent further escalation,” the UN force said.
In Fassuta, a town in northern Israel, a journalist from the AFP agency saw remains of a blackened rocket on a road. Meanwhile, in Shlomi, another agency team saw shops damaged by a rocket blast that hit the road.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is receiving “continuous updates on the situation of security and will carry out an evaluation with the heads of the security forces,” said his cabinet.
According to the rescue services, there are a 19-year-old man wounded by shrapnel and a woman with minor injuries.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was informed of the details of what happened on the northern border, a ministry spokesman said. “The minister will carry out an assessment of the situation with senior officials shortly,” he noted.
Clashes on the esplanade
Israel drew widespread international condemnation after police intervened early Wednesday to violently evicting Palestinian worshipers from the Jerusalem Mosque Esplanade, the third holy place of islam.
The intervention, which left 350 arrested according to the police and 37 injured according to the Palestinian Red Crescent, sparked an escalation of rocket fire from Gaza and Israeli shelling. The incident occurred in full celebrations of the Jewish Passover and the Muslim month of Ramadan.
Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese and pro-Iranian movement with an armed branch, warned a few hours before that it would support “all measures” taken by Palestinian organizations against Israel after the clashes.
“Hezbollah strongly denounces the assault of the Israeli occupation forces on the esplanade of the Al Aqsa Mosque and its attacks on the faithful,” the Shiite formation said in a statement.
Hezbollah, Israel’s sworn enemy, has good relations with the Islamist movement Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, and with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.