Join on WhatsApp
Join on Telegram
Rabat – Hamas claimed responsibility for the firing of seven rockets into Jerusalem Monday evening and Israel responded immediately with an attack on Gaza.
The rocket barrage follows Israel’s recent use of military force at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound, where over 300 people were injured on Monday morning.
Additionally, Hamas gave Israel an ultimatum by threatening to attack if Israeli security forces did not stand down in Jerusalem by 6:00 p.m.
Israeli security forces fired rubber bullets and used tear gas against hundreds of Palestinians on Friday, May 7. Crowds gathered at the site to protest the unjust killing of 16-year-old Saeed Yusuf Muhammad Oudeh.
In response to the attacks at al-Aqsa mosque, the Israeli PM Twitter page stated “We insist on ensuring the rights of everyone, this occasionally requires taking a strong stand as the officers of the Israel Police, and our security forces, are doing at the moment. We back them in this just struggle.”
Read also: ‘Jerusalem Is My Cause’: Social Media in Morocco, World Condemns Israel’s Violent Attacks
Air raid sirens warned of incoming rocket fire in Jerusalem, Sderot, and the coastal city of Ashkelon.
A spokesperson for Hamas told the media, “This is a message that the enemy should understand well” after citing Israel’s ongoing “crimes and aggression in the Holy City.”
Israel was swift to respond to the Hamas attack with an airstrike in Gaza, which killed nine Palestinians, including three children and a senior Hamas commander.
The recent violence is the most severe since former President Trump declared Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel in 2017.
The Israeli PM Twitter page denounced the rocket barrage in a video and stated “Israel has the right to defend its citizens.”
Israeli officials have yet to declare any injuries or casualties as many of the rockets were intercepted by Israel’s iron dome missile defense system.
The Israeli military has not commented on the airstrike in Gaza.
It is likely the international community will become increasingly involved as violence continues to escalate in the region. Currently, most of Israel’s allies have condemned the state-sanctioned violence towards the Palestinian people.
Israel’s Arab allies called for the end of the Israeli illegal settlement expansion and the future of relations in the region remains unclear.
