Israel launches air raids on Gaza, Lebanon following rocket fire
Israel’s military has said it is “striking in Lebanon”, hours after it launched air raids on Gaza, following a spate of rocket launches as tensions soar after Israeli forces stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem this week.
Israel’s army announced in a short statement at 4:07am (01:07 GMT) on Friday that it “is currently striking in Lebanon”. A Lebanese TV station reported explosions near a refugee camp in the southern port city of Tyre.
Hours earlier, there were explosions in Gaza after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised in a video statement that his country’s enemies would “pay a price for any aggression”.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or injuries in Lebanon or Gaza.
The latest raids come amid rising tensions over the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem by Israeli troops, who fired stun grenades, attacked Palestinian worshippers and expelled them from the holy site as they gathered for Ramadan prayers.
The Muslim holy month this year coincides with Passover, a key holiday in the Jewish calendar, as well the Christian festival of Easter.
The attacks on Gaza, a blockaded Palestinian enclave on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and Lebanon came after Israel said it was targeted by rockets.
The Israeli military said 34 rockets had been fired from Lebanon on Thursday, with 25 intercepted and at least four landing inside the country. They were the first rockets fired from Lebanon towards Israel in a year and the biggest launch since 2006. The Israeli military said its attack was focused on Hamas.
“The [Israeli military] will not allow the Hamas terrorist organisation to operate from within Lebanon and holds the state of Lebanon responsible for every directed fire emanating from its territory,” it said in a statement.
‘Flagrant aggression’
In Gaza, the Israeli military said it was also targeting Hamas, striking two tunnels and two alleged weapons facilities. The AFP news agency said a Palestinian security source indicated that Hamas training sites were hit in the attack.
Rockets from Gaza were fired in response. On Twitter, the Israeli army also said that air raid sirens went off in southern Israel.
Netanyahu was reportedly in a Security Cabinet meeting as the Gaza attack unfolded. Among the topics under discussion was the recent rocket fire.
Following the meeting, Netanyahu issued a brief statement. “Israel’s response, tonight and beyond, will extract a heavy price from our enemies,” it read. Israel has blamed the Palestinian group Hamas for the rocket fire.
Hamas, meanwhile, responded to the air attacks with a statement saying: “We hold the Zionist occupation fully responsible for the grave escalation and the flagrant aggression against the Gaza Strip and for the consequences that will bring onto the region.”
Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, who is in Lebanon, said that the authorities were investigating who was behind the rocket launches, but the region was in a precarious situation.
“It’s not clear whether this (the Israeli raids) will be a limited operation or whether it will be expanded, threatening a conflict that could spiral out of control,” she said.
Early on Wednesday, Israeli authorities said they fielded four rockets from Gaza following the two raids on the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Israeli planes then launched attacks on Gaza, hitting a target in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the centre of the strip as well as two sites west of Gaza City.
Israel has indicated that the rocket fire from Lebanon originated from Hamas or another Gaza-based group. No organisation has yet claimed responsibility.
“It’s a Palestinian-oriented event,” Israeli military spokesperson Richard Hecht said.
Tamir Hayman, a former Israeli head of military intelligence, offered his assessment on Twitter: “What we saw was widespread Palestinian shooting from Lebanon. It’s not Hezbollah shooting, but it’s hard to believe that Hezbollah didn’t know about it.”
Hezbollah did not respond immediately to the accusations. But Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the rocket fire from its side of the border.
Netanyahu issued a statement on Twitter earlier on Thursday announcing Israel would “cripple its enemies” in the wake of the rocket fire. He added that those “enemies” would discover that, when tested, Israelis would “stand united and support the actions of the IDF [Israel’s army] and other security forces to protect our country and its citizens”.
The United States has urged “restraint” amid the tensions on Thursday, with State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel saying: “Any unilateral action that jeopardises the status quo to us is unacceptable.”
Source: Al Jazeera and news agency
