Israel struck Gaza twice tonight in response to a missile fired by Palestinian militants, while Israeli police in Jerusalem prevented ultra-nationalist Jewish protesters from approaching the Muslim quarter of the Old City to prevent them from exacerbating tensions. At least 4 other rockets were launched from Gaza into Israeli territory. This was communicated by sources of the Defense of Jerusalem. The bombs were intercepted by the Iron Dome system.
The attacks hit central Gaza after midnight, witnesses and security sources said after nearly a month of deadly violence in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. The Gaza rocket did not cause any injuries: a fragment fell into the courtyard of a house in the southern Israeli city of Sderot, police explained. This is the second launch this week from Gaza, the first to hit Israel in months.
Israeli air raid destroys weapons factory in Gaza: intervention after launch of a rocket by Hamas
The armed wing of the Islamist movement Hamas, which governs Gaza, has fired several ground-to-air rockets at Israeli aircraft in response, Hamas officials said, and in response Israeli jets struck south of Gaza city. Hours earlier, Israeli police had stopped crowds of ultra-nationalist Jewish protesters from approaching the Muslim Old City neighborhood in East Jerusalem, to ward off more Israeli-Palestinian violence after weeks of bloodshed. Tension is high on the occasion of Passover, coinciding with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply concerned about the deterioration of the situation in Jerusalem”. Guterres is in contact with the parties to urge them “to do everything possible to lower tensions, avoid incendiary actions and rhetoric”