The rockets were fired in retaliation for two nights in a row when Israeli police had attacked Palestinians within Al-Aqsa Mosque.
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A day after Israeli police attacked Palestinians in Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque for the second consecutive night, the Israeli army claims to have intercepted a barrage of rockets fired from Lebanon.
It was the first rocket fired from Lebanon since last April that had been successfully intercepted, according to an official army statement on Thursday.
The army claimed that warning sirens have sounded in the northern Israeli towns of Shlomi and Moshav Betzet.
Later, according to a tweet from the Israeli military, 34 rockets were fired from Lebanon, 25 of them were intercepted, and at least four of them landed in Israel.
The Israeli artillery fire returned across the border after the rocket launch, according to Lebanon's National News Agency, without mentioning any injuries.
The Lebanese account claims that after "several Katyusha type rockets" were fired at Israel, Israeli artillery fired "several shells from its positions on the border" into the edges of two communities.
However, the Israeli military claimed to AFP that it had not responded in kind.
Security sources told Reuters that the missiles were launched by Palestinian groups and not the armed Hezbollah organization.
Hezbollah is in charge of maintaining security in southern Lebanon and has engaged Israel in the conflict in the past.
Southern Lebanon is also home to armed factions and Palestinian refugee camps.
Israeli forces, Palestinian worshippers, Al Aqsa Mosque courtyard, today morning - Why? pic.twitter.com/RN68RfVhtU
— Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) April 5, 2023
Three persons were hurt by the rocket fire, according to the MDA ambulance service in Israel, including a 60-year-old woman who was hurt while attempting to run to a nearby shelter and a 19-year-old man who had shrapnel wounds and was in fair condition. Others received shock treatment.
The Israeli army told UNIFIL that it had activated its Iron Dome defense system in response to "multiple rocket launches from southern Lebanon towards Israel," according to a statement from the UN peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, also known as UNIFIL.
According to the statement, both Israeli and Lebanese officials have spoken with Major General Aroldo Lazaro, commander of the peacekeeping mission. "The situation is very terrible right now. UNIFIL recommends caution and the avoidance of further escalation," it continued.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, was "receiving constant updates about the security situation and will conduct an assessment with the heads of the security establishment," according to his office.
There was no clear indication of who was behind the incident, which this week coincided with Israeli forces attacking Palestinian worshippers at Al-Aqsa and resulted in regional and international condemnation of Israel.
Gaza rocket fire
The Israeli military claims that on a different border, Palestinian armed groups in the constrained Gaza Strip launched rockets into southern Israel for the second day in a row.
Gas station in Israel was hit by a rocket attack. This comes after an escalating violence by Israel against Palestinian civilians. This was likely an unguided 122mm Grad-type rocket pic.twitter.com/IZ5I7RiuLT
— LogKa (@LogKa11) April 6, 2023
The early-morning rocket barrage from Gaza on Thursday did not result in any reported casualties.
Israeli troops entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City on Thursday for a second night, barring Palestinian worshippers from entering the mosque for dawn prayers. This was followed by the rocket firing.
In an earlier raid, Israeli forces targeted worshippers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the early hours of Wednesday. On the eve of the 15th day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the first day of the Jewish holiday of Passover, at least 12 Palestinians were hurt and more than 400 others were imprisoned.
Israeli aircraft struck numerous locations in Gaza after the operation on Wednesday, hitting targets at two locations west of the city and in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the core of the coastal enclave. Israeli authorities said that the police raid on Al-Aqsa was the cause of the incident, which followed four rockets fired earlier on Wednesday from Gaza.
To protest the crackdown on worshippers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a group of young men also made their way to the border fence dividing Gaza from Israel to the east, where they set fire to rubber tires and organized a sit-in.
Large groups protested throughout the Gaza Strip on Wednesday to call for the protection of worshippers at the location. The coastal enclave's ruling party, Hamas, as well as other Palestinian factions, called for the demonstrations, which took place following Ramadan night prayers.
As they sang slogans in support of the Mourabitoun, a group of Palestinian worshippers who identify themselves as Al-Aqsa's guardians, protesters held up Palestinian flags and images of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Any "attempts [by Israel] to change the status quo in Al-Aqsa Mosque, or to Judaise the site, would ignite an unprecedented war on all fronts, especially from the Gaza Strip," according to a statement from two Palestinian factions, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.
The scenes from Al-Asqa mosque in Jerusalem are grotesque in the extreme.
— Matt Carthy TD (@mattcarthy) April 5, 2023
The brutality of Israeli apartheid has been exposed to the world once again. This time the world must take notice and demand an end to the oppression of the Palestinian people. pic.twitter.com/blBCseeCqA
Al-Aqsa Mosque is one of Islam's holiest sites. In order to allow Muslims to pray again, the IDF removed Palestinian criminals. pic.twitter.com/1kvtQnuwtU
— RedBrasco - RedLehi (@redbrasco) April 5, 2023
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