Following the most sustained rocket attacks from Lebanon and Gaza in 17 years, Israeli jets have bombed Hamas sites in the Gaza Strip. The targeted sites were used for weapons production and underground tunnels. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet made a series of decisions based on recommendations of the military and security services in response to the firing at the citizens of Israel in both the north and the south.
The rockets have injured two people in the north, and the Israeli military urged civilians in the south to remain near shelters. While the Israeli military is not seeking more confrontation, it warned that “Israel’s response, tonight and in the future, will exact a heavy price.” The recent fighting began after confrontations that broke out at the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan and the Jewish feast of Passover.
Young men barricaded themselves into a prayer room at Al Aqsa with crude weapons, triggering outrage from Hamas, which launched rockets. The US has called on all sides to de-escalate, as tensions are expected to rise during Friday prayers at Al Aqsa and over the weekend with Good Friday and Easter adding to crowd size and tensions in and around Jerusalem.