Israel launches artillery attacks on Syria after rocket fire
The Israeli military says six rockets were fired from Syrian territory towards Israel, one of which landed on the annexed Golan Heights.
The Israeli army says it launched artillery strikes against Syria after several rockets were fired from Syrian territory towards northern Israel, causing no damage or casualties.
Cross-border exchanges got underway early Sunday as violence escalated on multiple fronts, including in Gaza, Lebanon, occupied East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.
There was no immediate comment from the Syrian government.
The Israeli army said it had launched artillery strikes and a drone against the missile launchers in Syria.
There were two rounds of rocket launches from Syrian territory in the early hours of Sunday, it said. The first involved three missiles, one of which landed in a field in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.
The second launch, which also involved three missiles, set off sirens in northern Israel. There were no reports of casualties.
Lebanon-based Al Mayadeen TV said the rocket launches were claimed by Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement.
The rocket fire from Syria comes amid rising Israeli-Palestinian tensions caused by Israeli police raids on the grounds of the Al-Aqsa mosque.
The site in Jerusalem’s Old City, sacred to both Muslims and Jews, who know it as the Temple Mount, has long been a focal point, particularly over the issue of Jewish visitors defying a ban on non-Muslim prayer at the mosque.
The raids came at a time of heightened religious fervor — with Ramadan coinciding with the Jewish holiday of Passover and Christian Easter celebrations. Violent scenes from the attacks enraged Palestinians during the holy fasting month of Ramadan and prompted armed groups in Lebanon and in the Gaza Strip to fire a barrage of rockets at Israel.
The Israeli army then bombed several sites it said belonged to the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza and southern Lebanon.
In a separate incident on Saturday, Israeli security forces shot and killed a 20-year-old Palestinian in the occupied northern West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Ahed Salim, 20, was hit in the chest and abdomen by sharp fire in Azzun near Qalqilyah, the ministry said.
Israelis were also tense after a car crash in Tel Aviv on Friday that killed an Italian man and injured five other tourists. The Tel Aviv attack came hours after a Palestinian man shot dead two Israeli sisters and wounded their mother near an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank.
Amid the escalation, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has extended a lockdown barring entry into Israel for Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip for the duration of Passover, while police reinforced troops in Jerusalem on the eve of sensitive religious celebrations.
However, mass prayers were allowed at Al-Aqsa Mosque over the weekend.
More than 2,000 police officers were expected to be deployed to Jerusalem on Sunday — when tens of thousands of Jews are expected to gather at the Western Wall on the grounds of Al-Aqsa for the special Passover priestly blessing.