ISLAMABAD
\nThe Israeli military has struck besieged Gaza and southern Lebanon following a day of rocket fire from the Palestinian territory and from Lebanon in reaction to Israel\u2019s back-to-back military incursions into the Al Aqsa Mosque (Islam\u2019s third-holiest site).
\nHamas, which governs the tiny coastal strip of Gaza, said several air strikes had been carried out in the blockaded enclave early on Friday. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the strikes.
\n\u201cThe IDF is currently striking in Gaza,\u201d the Israel Defense Forces said on Twitter.
\nIsraeli military said air-raid sirens were sounded in southern Israel, signaling renewed rocket fire from Gaza.
\nLater, at least three explosions were heard in Lebanon\u2019s Tyre region, as Israel\u2019s military said it was carrying out strikes there.
\n\u201cAt least two shells fell near\u201d a Palestinian refugee camp near Tyre city, said camp resident Abu Ahmad, who told the AFP news agency he \u201cheard explosions\u201d.
\nTwo Lebanese security sources said the strike hit a small structure on farmland near the area from which the rockets had been launched earlier. They had no reports of casualties.
\nIn a separate statement, Hamas said, \u201cWe strongly condemn the blatant Zionist aggression against Lebanon in the vicinity of Tyre at dawn today\u201d.
\nIsraeli military said it will not allow Hamas to operate from within Lebanon and \u201cholds the state of Lebanon responsible for every directed fire emanating from its territory,\u201d it said in a statement.
\nThe UN peacekeepers (deployed in southern Lebanon to buffer the two countries) called on \u201call parties to cease all actions\u201d on both sides of the border.
\nLebanese army soldiers and residents inspect the damage following Israeli air strikes, in Ras al-Ain, southern Lebanon early on Friday. (Reuters)
\nThe attacks came shortly after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised a strong response to rockets, pushing the powder keg region closer to a wider conflagration.
\n\u201cWe will hit our enemies and they will pay a price for all acts of aggression,\u201d Netanyahu said in a televised address.
\nIsrael\u2019s army said it had \u201cidentified 34 rockets that were fired from Lebanese territory into Israeli territory\u201d (the largest escalation along the frontier since Israel and Hezbollah fought a 34-day war in 2006).
\nTwenty-five rockets were intercepted by Israeli air defences, while \u201cfive rockets landed in Israeli territory,\u201d added the army statement. The attack was not immediately claimed by any group.
\nT\u00fcrkiye lashed out at Israel, demanding it immediately put an end to the policy of violence \u201cthat it has been deliberately pursuing for days.\u201d
\n\u201cWe condemn Israel\u2019s unlawful and immoral attacks on Gaza. Our support to our Palestinian brothers and sisters will continue. This persecution will surely end!\u201d Turkish presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin said.
\nLebanon\u2019s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he rejected any \u201cescalation\u201d from his country after the rocket attack.
\nThe barrage came after Israeli troops drew widespread condemnation from around the region for targeting worshippers twice on Wednesday inside occupied East Jerusalem\u2019s Al Aqsa Mosque.
\nAccording to the Lebanon report, Israeli artillery fired \u201cseveral shells from its positions on the border\u201d towards the outskirts of two villages after the launch of \u201cseveral Katyusha type rockets\u201d at Israel.
\nLater on Friday, the Lebanese army reported that it had dismantled a launcher loaded with rockets ready to be fired at Israel, hours after Israel shelled Lebanese territory in response to the biggest rocket salvo since 2006.
\nA statement by the Lebanese army said \u201ca rocket launcher was found armed with rockets that had not been fired yet in the Marjayoun plain\u201d near the Israeli border.
\nThe army said the multiple rocket launcher which it found abandoned in an olive grove.
\nIt published pictures on Twitter of the launcher still loaded with six rockets that had not been fired.
\nOn Thursday, the Israeli army said more than 30 rockets had been fired from Lebanese territory into Israel in the largest escalation on the northern border since Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah fought a 34-day war in 2006.
\nTensions have been running high in Israel-occupied East Jerusalem after Israeli forces stormed the Al Aqsa Mosque for the second time on Wednesday after arresting hundreds of Palestinians during the first raid.
\nThe raids came as Palestinian Muslims were offering special Ramadan prayers at Al Aqsa, which prompted Palestinian groups in besieged Gaza to launch rocket attacks in retaliation.
\nDuring the second raid, Israeli forces reportedly tossed stun grenades and forced Muslim worshippers to leave.
\nThe incidents have drawn widespread condemnation from Muslim countries with Jordan on Wednesday calling for an extraordinary meeting of the Arab League to discuss the developments.
\nIran has called for an emergency session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation [OIC] on the situation in Palestine in the wake of incursions and raids by Israeli forces.
\nViolence emanating from decades of Israel\u2019s occupation of Palestinian lands has intensified since the new government of veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took power in December, a coalition with extreme right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties.
\nSo far this year, the Israeli occupation has claimed the lives of more than 90 Palestinians. Some15 Israelis and one Ukrainian have also died.
\nIsrael occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It vacated from Gaza in 2005 and has since imposed a harsh blockade from land, air and sea on the tiny Palestinian enclave.
\nOver 700,000 illegal Israeli settlers now live in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD The Israeli military has struck besieged Gaza and southern Lebanon following a day of rocket fire from the Palestinian territory and from Lebanon in reaction to Israel\u2019s back-to-back military incursions into the Al Aqsa Mosque (Islam\u2019s third-holiest site). Hamas, which governs the tiny coastal strip of Gaza, said several air strikes had been carried […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324549,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-324526","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n