The prior days of clashes and tensions at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque are spiraling toward broader conflict in Gaza and along Israel’s northern border as on Thursday afternoon a barrage of rockets was fired from Lebanon.
Rocket sirens have been sounding in the towns of Betzet and Shlomi in the Western Galilee, close to the border, while the IDF says its Iron Dome system intercepted at least one of the projectiles. There are emerging reports of at least person wounded by shrapnel on the Israeli side.
No group has claimed responsibility for the rockets, but Hezbollah is the prime armed group operating in southern Lebanon. Some reports say the rocket salvo was launched from Palestinian refugee camps, and thus might not have been approved by Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia group backed by Iran.
According to The Times of Israel, it’s a likely directly response to the recent Israeli police raids on al-Aqsa Mosque during Muslim holy days:
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the launches came just hours after Lebanon’s Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah said it would support “all measures” Palestinian groups may take against Israel after clashes at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Axios is reporting an estimate of “between 25-30 rockets” launched, according to defense officials.
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