JERUSALEM: Palestinian militants fired a barrage of rockets early Thursday, setting off air raid sirens in southern Israel, as violence erupted for the second day in a row during a sensitive period of overlapping holidays.
The Israeli military said seven rockets launched from the Gaza Strip all exploded in midair. No group claimed responsibility for the barrage.
The barrage came after another tense night at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, where Israeli police clashed with Muslim worshippers attempting to stay overnight.
Since Ramadan began March 22, scores of Muslims have repeatedly tried to stay overnight in the mosque, a practice that is typically permitted only during the last 10 days of the monthlong holiday. Israeli police have entered nightly to evict the worshippers, but on Tuesday the scene erupted in violence.
Worshippers threw stones and firecrackers at police, who responded with beatings that left dozens bloody and the arrest of hundreds.
On Wednesday, the Israeli police made no arrests but did detain and question some Palestinians, a spokesperson said.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said it was not allowed into the compound Wednesday, but dozens were injured from beatings, rubber bullets and stun grenades, including an ambulance driver.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz said protests on Wednesday night drew hundreds in communities across Israel’s north, home to many of Israel’s Palestinian citizens, who make up one-fifth of its 9.6 million people. Police said they arrested five protesters in the large town of Um Al-Fahm.
The rocket fire raised fears of a wider conflagration as Jews began the week-long Passover holiday, hundreds of Christians in the Old City gathered for Holy Thursday at the Holy Sepulcher to mark the Last Supper, and Muslims marked the Ramadan holy month.
Al-Aqsa is the third-holiest site in Islam and stands on a hilltop known to Jews as the Temple Mount, which is the holiest site in Judaism. Conflicting claims over it have spilled into violence before, including a bloody 11-day war two years ago between Israel and Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza.
Muslim leaders around the Middle East criticized the Israeli actions in Al-Aqsa.
Rockets fired from Gaza raise tension as Passover begins
https://arab.news/pc6jk
Rockets fired from Gaza raise tension as Passover begins
- Israeli military say seven rockets launched from the Gaza Strip all exploded in midair
- Barrage comes after another tense night at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site, the Al-Aqsa Mosque
Arab coalition warns against military moves undermining de-escalation in Yemen
- The coalition’s spokesperson, Major General Turki Al-Maliki, said the warning follows a request from Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council to take urgent measures
DUBAI: The Arab coalition supporting Yemen’s internationally recognised government warned on Saturday that any military movements undermining de-escalation efforts would be dealt with immediately to protect civilians, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
The coalition’s spokesperson, Major General Turki Al-Maliki, said the warning follows a request from Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council to take urgent measures to protect civilians in Hadramout Governorate amid what he described as serious humanitarian violations by groups affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council.
The statement said the measures are part of ongoing joint Saudi-Emirati efforts to reduce tensions, facilitate the withdrawal of forces, hand over military camps, and enable local authorities to carry out their duties.
Al-Maliki reaffirmed the coalition’s support for Yemen’s internationally recognized government and called on all parties to exercise restraint and engage in peaceful solutions, the agency reported.
The STC has pushed the internationally recognised government from its headquarters in Aden while claiming broad control across the south this month.
Saudi Arabia has called STC forces to withdraw from areas it seized earlier in December in the eastern provinces of Hadramout and Mahra.
