The Israeli attack on Jerusalem
Undefined, JERUSALEM — As tensions rise after a weekend of violence surrounding a Jerusalem holy site, Israel launched its first air strikes on the Gaza Strip in months in response to a missile fired from the Palestinian territory.
After a rocket was fired from the enclave controlled by the Islamist group Hamas, warning sirens sounded in southern Israel Monday night, the first such incident since early January.
"The Gaza Strip launched one rocket into Israeli territory. The Iron Dome Air Defense System intercepted the rocket "In a statement, the Israeli military said.
In reply, the Israeli air force claimed to have attacked a Hamas weapons manufacturing facility.
According to witnesses and security sources in Gaza, Hamas claimed to have deployed its "anti-aircraft defense" to repel the air raids, which resulted in no injuries.
The rocket was launched after a spate of attacks in Israel and a weekend of tensions at a holy site in Jerusalem, but no faction in the congested enclave of 2.3 million residents quickly claimed credit.
Israel holds Hamas responsible for all missile shooting from the country and frequently responds with air strikes.
The event, which is the first of its sort since January, follows a weekend of Israeli-Palestinian violence in and around Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which left more than 170 people injured, the most of them were Palestinian demonstrators.
According to diplomatic sources, the United Nations Security Council will hold a meeting.
The surge in hostilities occurs around Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, and Passover, the Jewish festival.
Temple Mount is the Jewish name for the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which is the holiest location in Judaism and the third-holiest in Islam.
Repeated visits to the site by Jewish worshippers, who are allowed to enter but not to pray, have enraged Palestinians.
Naftali Bennett's government has often stated that Israeli security personnel have a "free hand" in dealing with protesters.
"Al-Aqsa is ours and ours alone," Hamas said on Sunday, vowing to safeguard Palestinians' right to pray there.
The firefights in Gaza and the Al-Aqsa riots followed a spike in violence that included four death attacks since late December.