Israel bombs Hamas target in Gaza amid tensions in Jerusalem
Online News EditorMay 9, 2021
Jerusalem, May 9 (EFE).- Israel bombed a target of the Islamist Hamas movement in the Gaza strip early Sunday in retaliation to a rocket attack amid tensions in the occupied East Jerusalem.
“Terrorists in Gaza fired a rocket toward Israel earlier tonight. In response, our aircraft just struck a Hamas military post in southern Gaza. Terror has consequences,” the Israel military said on Twitter.
The airstrike came after clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian worshipers broke out at the Holy Esplanade, where thousands of Muslims had gathered for prayers at the nearby Al-Aqsa mosque on the last Friday of Ramadan.
The Israeli army reported the retaliatory strike as it usually does.
On Sunday, groups of Palestinian youths again fired incendiary balloons from Gaza towards Israel and announced that they would continue their activities at the separation barrier.
Escalated tensions in Jerusalem have reverberated in the Gaza Strip since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends on Wednesday.
Militants in the Gaza Strip fired 36 rockets on the night of Apr. 23-24, coinciding with another day of escalated tensions due to blockades placed by Israel around the Damascus Gate, the main entrance to the Old City, which led to protests by Palestinians.
Sunday morning coincided with Islam’s holy night of Lailat al-Qadr, which saw fresh clashes that caused injuries to dozens.
More than 200 people were injured in Friday clashes, which came amid a week of violent night encounters.
Israeli security forces clashed with Palestinians protesting the eviction of families from their houses in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, which is claimed by Jewish settlement organizations.
The European Union condemned the flaring tension in Jerusalem as “unacceptable,” saying those responsible for the violence “on all sides must be held accountable.”
“The European Union calls on the authorities to act urgently to de-escalate the current tensions in Jerusalem,” the bloc’s foreign affairs office said in a statement. EFE
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