Tensions between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas are escalating: the latter fired rockets at Israel on Tuesday evening, and on Wednesday morning responded with an airstrike on the Gaza Strip.

According to the Israeli army, rockets were fired from the Palestinian enclave into Israel following incidents at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem between Israeli police and Palestinians in the middle of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

At least nine rockets were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces said, five of which were “intercepted by air defenses” in Sderot (south) and four more fell in deserted areas.

In the Palestinian enclave, dozens of protesters took to the streets in the middle of the night, setting fire to tires and other objects after an Israeli police operation inside the Al-Aqsa Islamic mosque in Jerusalem to eliminate “troublemakers”. .

Condemning the “unprecedented crime”, the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which is in power in the Gaza Strip, called on West Bank Palestinians to “go en masse to the Al-Aqsa Islamic Mosque to protect it.”

“We swear to protect and protect Al-Aqsa,” the crowd chanted.

As a Reuters reporter found, Israeli Air Force planes hit targets in the Gaza Strip at dawn, while Jews have been celebrating Easter since Wednesday evening.

The Israeli police raid on the place of worship in the square of the mosque, the third most important Islamic shrine, in the middle of Ramadan provoked reactions from Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Israeli police have released video clips of more than 50 seconds showing explosions that appear to have been caused by fireworks at a place of worship, as well as silhouettes throwing rocks. In another shot, police officers in riot gear enter the mosque, raising their shields to protect themselves from objects thrown at them. It is also shown how the police remove at least five people with their hands tied to the bars.

According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, at least seven Palestinians were injured. According to the same source, the injured porters were not allowed to enter the Islamic mosque.

“I was sitting in a chair reading (the Quran),” the older woman told Reuters, still breathing heavily, when Israeli police rushed in and “thrown stun grenades, one of which hit me in the chest,” she added. before you start crying

Nabil Abu Rudayna, spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, stressed that “we are warning the occupying power (including Israel) not to cross the red lines in the holy places, because this will lead to a big explosion.”

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry, for its part, called for an immediate end to Israel’s “attack” on Al-Kshas believers.

Source: APE-MPE, Reuters.