Israel\u2019s military hit sites in Lebanon and Gaza early on Friday, in retaliation for rocket attacks it blamed on Hamas
\n JERUSALEM
\nIsrael\u2019s military hit sites in Lebanon and Gaza early on Friday, in retaliation for rocket attacks it blamed on Hamas, as tensions following police raids this week on the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem threatened to spiral out of control.
\nLoud blasts rocked different areas of Gaza, as Israel claimed its jets hit 10 targets \u201cincluding tunnels and weapons manufacturing and development sites\u201d of Hamas, which controls the blockaded southern coastal strip.
\nAt around 4.00 am, the military said it had also struck three Hamas infrastructure targets in southern Lebanon, where residents around the area of the Rashidiyeh refugee camp near the southern city of Tyre reported three loud blasts. \u201cWe strongly condemn the blatant Zionist aggression against Lebanon in the vicinity of Tyre at dawn today,\u201d Hamas said.
\nTwo Lebanese security sources said the strike hit a small structure on farmland near the area from which the rockets had been launched earlier.
\nThe strike appeared to have left a large crater in farmland in the south, according to Reuters witnesses.
\nA member of Lebanon\u2019s Civil Defense at the scene on Friday morning said there were no casualties.
\nThe strikes came in response to rocket attacks from Lebanon towards northern Israeli areas, which Israeli officials blamed on Hamas. The military claimed 34 rockets were launched from Lebanon, of which 25 were intercepted by air defence systems. It was the biggest such attack since 2006 when Israel fought a war with the heavily armed Hezbollah movement.
\n\u201cIsrael\u2019s response, tonight and later, will exact a significant price from our enemies,\u201d Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said following a security cabinet meeting.
\nAs the Israeli jets struck in Gaza, salvoes of rockets were allegedly fired in response and sirens sounded in Israeli towns and cities in bordering areas. However there were no reports of serious casualties and only one rocket hit a target, damaging a house in the southern town of Sderot.
\nThe cross-border strikes came amid an escalating confrontation over Israeli police raids at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramazan, which this year coincides with the Jewish Passover holiday.
\n\u201cWe hold the Zionist occupation fully responsible for the grave escalation and the flagrant aggression against the Gaza Strip and for the consequences that will bring onto the region,\u201d Hamas said in a statement.
\nLebanon\u2019s Prime Minister Najib Mikati issued a statement condemning any military operations from its territory that threatened stability but there was no immediate comment from Hezbollah. Earlier on Thursday, before the rockets were fired, senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine said any infringement on Al-Aqsa \u201cwill inflame the entire region\u201d.
\nUNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, said it had been in contact with the parties and said both sides had said they did not seek war but it said the situation risked escalation and urged all parties to halt their actions.
\nAn Israeli military spokesman said the Israeli operation was over for the moment. \u201cNobody wants an escalation right now,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cQuiet will be answered with quiet, at this stage I think, at least in the coming hours.\u201d
\nUS condemns rocket attacks
\nThe US State Department condemned the launch of rockets from Lebanon and earlier strikes from Gaza and said Israel had the right to defend itself.
\nBut it also expressed concern at the scenes in the Al-Aqsa mosque, where Israeli police were filmed beating worshippers during raids that officials claimed were to \u201cdislodge groups of young men who had barricaded themselves inside the mosque\u201d.
\nThe Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem\u2019s Old City is Islam\u2019s third holiest site, where hundreds of thousands pray during Ramazan. Known to Jews as Temple Mount, the location of the two biblical Jewish temples, it is also Judaism\u2019s most sacred site.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Israel\u2019s military hit sites in Lebanon and Gaza early on Friday, in retaliation for rocket attacks it blamed on Hamas JERUSALEM Israel\u2019s military hit sites in Lebanon and Gaza early on Friday, in retaliation for rocket attacks it blamed on Hamas, as tensions following police raids this week on the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem threatened […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324692,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-324669","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n