Israeli raids on Gaza: towards a general flare-up?

On Wednesday evening, a missile, the second of its kind this week, was launched from the Gaza Strip, hitting a field in the Israeli settlement of Sderot (south), without causing any casualties. Israeli observers pointed out that the anti-missile system Iron Dome (Iron Dome) He did not object. Rocket fragments caused a fire in an apartment.

Sources from the resistance factions on Lebanese TV denied this fields New shells from the Gaza Strip. However, the Israeli army carried out a series of strikes during the night, and three explosions were reported to be heard in open areas in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian sources said that the Israelis bombed a site for the resistance west of Nazareth, a second site for the Al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas, south of Gaza City, and a third site. An Israeli tank also fired at an observation point east of Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. It is said once again, that Palestinian anti-aircraft systems fired on Israeli aircraft that were conducting raids on the Gaza Strip. Sirens were heard in the settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip.
Local sources in Gaza confirmed the launch of a surface-to-air missile at the Israeli planes carrying out the raids. This is the second time this projectile has been used this week.

In response to these Israeli strikes, four other missiles were launched towards Israeli settlements, but the Iron Dome missile shield intercepted them, according to the statement.France Press agency. The exchange of fire – the second this week and the most intense since the end of the 11-day war between Israel and the Gaza Strip in May 2021 – follows this weekend’s clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli police in Berkan Square. Mosques of the Holy City of Jerusalem. A powerful mobilization of Jerusalemites was organized to defend the third holiest place in Islam from attempts by Jewish settlers to desecrate it by performing ritual sacrifices there on the Jewish holiday of Passover.

The Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in the city of Jerusalem witnessed barbarism that the occupation forces deployed in its streets after the Iftar ceremony organized by its Palestinian residents on Wednesday. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that Israeli soldiers were attacking Palestinians with batons and pepper spraying them.

The Israeli occupation police attacks daily this neighborhood whose Palestinian residents are threatened with confiscation of their homes, but it prevents the media from covering these events that were, last year, behind the 11-day conflict in the month of Ramadan.

The Israeli media reported that “The security establishment is ready for the possibility of an escalation in the coming days with the Gaza Strip.” According to the Israeli media, “The security and military establishment fears an additional escalation with the Gaza Strip after a stormy dawn on the Temple Mount.”

Earlier in the day, the Israeli occupation forces stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque after dawn prayers, using tear gas and rubber bullets to facilitate the settlers’ storming, while Palestinian youths confronted them with fireworks. Now a daily workout. The occupation forces forcibly evacuated the worshipers stationed in the courtyards of the mosques, which led to the injury of large numbers of those trapped inside the tribal prayer hall, the attack on the press crews, and the expulsion of the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israeli media reported on Thursday A difficult night for the residents of Sderot after seven months of calm » Emphasizing it “Since morning, calm has prevailed around the Gaza Strip, but preparations for any escalation are being felt here, as well as in Sderot and around the Gaza Strip.”

As a reminder, the Palestinian resistance factions held, on Tuesday evening, April 20, a new meeting in the office of Yahya Sinwar, head of Hamas, to discuss the latest developments in the city of Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. At the end of this meeting, the Palestinian factions announced that they had raised the “state of general alert” at all levels in anticipation of an event “Any new aggression against Al-Aqsa Mosque or new foolishness by the occupiers and settlers.”