Hamas Fires Rockets At Israel Amid Al-Aqsa Mosque Clashes

Hamas Fires Rockets At Israel Amid Al-Aqsa Mosque Clashes


Islamist movement Hamas fired rockets at Israel from the Gaza Strip Monday after warning the Jewish state to pull out its security forces from the violence-torn Al-Aqsa mosque compound and a flashpoint Jerusalem district.

Israeli seurity forces advance amid clashes with Palestinian protesters at the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem Israeli seurity forces advance amid clashes with Palestinian protesters at the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem Photo: AFP / Ahmad GHARABLI

Sirens wailed across Jerusalem just after the 1500 GMT deadline set by Hamas as people in Jerusalem, including lawmakers in the Knesset legislature, evacuated into bunkers, amid warnings over loudspeaker in Hebrew and English.

The Israeli army said seven rockets were fired from the coastal strip into Israel, two of which were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome defence system and three of which fell into vacant lots.

Map of Jerusalem's Old City Map of Jerusalem's Old City Photo: AFP / AFP

In retaliation, the army said it fired at "Hamas military posts" in Gaza and closed the Erez crossing with Israel.


One Gaza rocket impacted at Beit Shemesh south of Jerusalem, but there were no immediate reports of casualties. A house in Beit Nekofa, about 10 kilometres (six miles) west of central Jerusalem, was also damaged by rocket fire, AFP TV reported.

Israeli security forces form a shield as a stun grenade bursts amid clashes with Palestinian protesters at the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem Israeli security forces form a shield as a stun grenade bursts amid clashes with Palestinian protesters at the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem Photo: AFP / Ahmad GHARABLI

The Israel Defence Forces said on Twitter that, separate to the rockets, "as a result of an anti-tank missile fired from Gaza, an Israeli civilian in a nearby vehicle was lightly injured" in the Gaza border area.

A spokesman for Hamas' armed wing the Qassam Brigades said that "a volley of rockets was fired towards the enemy in occupied Jerusalem in response to its crimes and aggression on the holy city and repression of its residents in Sheikh Jarrah and the Al-Aqsa mosque".

An injured Palestinian protestor is helped during clashes with Israeli police in Sheikh Jarrah in east Jerusalem An injured Palestinian protestor is helped during clashes with Israeli police in Sheikh Jarrah in east Jerusalem Photo: AFP / EMMANUEL DUNAND


"This is a message that the enemy must understand well: if you respond we will respond, and if you escalate we will escalate."

Tensions have flared since Israeli riot police clashed with Palestinian worshippers on the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in the city's worst disturbances since 2017.

Israeli security forces deploy next to the Dome of the Rock mosque amid clashes with Palestinian protesters at the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem Israeli security forces deploy next to the Dome of the Rock mosque amid clashes with Palestinian protesters at the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem Photo: AFP / Ahmad GHARABLI

Nightly unrest since then at Al-Aqsa has left hundreds of Palestinians wounded, drawn calls for de-escalation from the international community and sharp rebukes from across the Muslim world.

Masked Palestinian supporters of Islamic Jihad prepare incendiary balloons near Beit Lahia in Gaza City, to launch across the border fence towards Israel Masked Palestinian supporters of Islamic Jihad prepare incendiary balloons near Beit Lahia in Gaza City, to launch across the border fence towards Israel Photo: AFP / MAHMUD HAMS

Fears of further chaos in the Old City had temporarily eased when Israeli organisers of a march to celebrate the Jewish state's 1967 capture of east Jerusalem cancelled the event.

Israeli mounted policemen disperse protesters during a demonstration by Palestinians against the possible eviction of Palestinian families from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah Israeli mounted policemen disperse protesters during a demonstration by Palestinians against the possible eviction of Palestinian families from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah Photo: AFP / Menahem KAHANA

But then came the Hamas warning, followed by the rockets.

"An alarm has just been sounded in Jerusalem. Police forces have begun evacuating hundreds of people" gathered at the Wailing Wall to safer locations, police said, later adding that the evacuation was completed.

Palestinian faithful hold night-time prayers in front of the Dome of the Rock in the Old City of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem Palestinian faithful hold night-time prayers in front of the Dome of the Rock in the Old City of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem Photo: AFP / Ahmad GHARABLI

Hamas has fired several rockets towards Israel in recent days, some intercepted by the Iron Dome system, while militants in Gaza have deployed incendiary balloons that have sparked dozens of fires in Israeli territory.

In Monday's Al-Aqsa clashes, as during the previous nights since Friday, Palestinians hurled rocks at Israeli officers in riot gear who fired rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas.

Loud booms and angry screams echoed from the ancient stone walls of the compound, where Palestinians built makeshift barricades and the ground was littered with rocks, stun grenade fragments and other debris.

Outside the mosque -- where some ornamental windows had been smashed -- an installation made from empty shells of stun grenades and tear gas canisters depicted the Dome of the Rock with the Arabic slogan "You Shall Not Pass".

"We do not know what to do," Palestinian pensioner Fathi Awwad told AFP in the Old City. "We are really sad about the situation inside, what is this? More than 200 injured inside! It's a shame."

The violence since Friday has been fuelled by a long-running bid by Jewish settlers to evict several Palestinian families from their nearby east Jerusalem Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood.

A Supreme Court hearing on a Palestinian appeal in the case originally set for Monday was pushed back by the justice ministry due to the tensions.

Despite mounting international condemnation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced support for the Israeli police's "just struggle", praising the "steadfastness that the Israeli police and our security forces are currently displaying".

The UN Security Council held an informal meeting at Tunisia's request later Monday on the unrest, but without agreeing on a joint statement.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation said it would Tuesday hold an emergency meeting "to discuss the escalating Israeli aggression", including the evictions issue and "attacks against worshippers in the Mosque compound and denial of the compound access to them".

The Palestinian Red Crescent put the toll from Monday's clashes at 305 injured, including more than 200 who were hospitalised, five of them in critical condition.

The Israeli police reported nine injuries in their ranks.

All six Arab nations that have diplomatic ties with Israel -- Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan -- have rebuked the Jewish state, as have other mostly Muslim countries including Turkey and Indonesia.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas issued a fresh condemnation of what he called Israel's "barbaric aggression."