TEL AVIV. Alarm sirens sounded on the outskirts of Jerusalem. According to Israeli public television Kan, the Iron Dome defense systems intercepted two rockets fired from Gaza. There is no news of victims. The incident took place while groups of religious Jews were entering on the Esplanade of the Mosques (the Temple Mount for the Jews) on the Jewish solemnity of the Nine of the month of Av.
Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for the launch of rockets towards Jerusalem. In a statement, the organization warned Israel that it “will react strongly” to the killing of its military commander in the southern Strip, Khaled Mansour, which took place yesterday. During the night, Islamic Jihad fired a single rocket, but in the early morning it directed the fire towards Jerusalem and the Israeli city of Sderot, close to the Strip. “It was a first reaction,” said the military wing of Islamic Jihad.