Above Photo: Palestinians hold the Palestinian national flag and the flag of Hamas during a protest at the Dome of Rock, Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, April 7, 2023. Mahmoud Illean/AP.
Israeli warplanes bombed parts of the Gaza Strip and southern Lebanon after the firing of rockets from those regions into Israel in retaliation against the apartheid regime’s savage attacks on Palestinian worshipers inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied city of Jerusalem.
At midnight on Friday, April 7, Israeli occupation warplanes launched a series of missile strikes on various sites in the Gaza Strip, targeting a Palestinian Resistance site in the south of Gaza City, an observatory post in the east of the city, agricultural land in Al-Zeitoun neighborhood of southeastern Gaza, and other Resistance sites in the city of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza Strip and Khan Younis in the southern part of the blockaded enclave, Al Mayadeen reported.
The Resistance responded to the strikes with rocket barrages that set off airstrike sirens in the illegal settlements of Sderot, Ibim, and Nir Am in the occupied Palestinian territories close to Gaza’s border.
The Palestinian Health Ministry reported that the Israeli airstrikes partially damaged the Al-Durra Children’s Hospital in eastern Gaza City. The bombing is a clear violation of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Convention, which provides for the protection of health institutions in conflict situations.
The occupation forces simultaneously launched airstrikes on southern Lebanon, targeting the port city of Tyre.
Lebanese TV stations reported that the attacks targeted the Rashidieh Palestinian refugee camp in Tyre city as well as the towns of al-Qalila and al-Maaliya and the Zabqin region in southern Lebanon, while an Israeli military spokesperson claimed that the Israeli army had attacked Hamas infrastructure and sites in southern Lebanon.
The strikes came hours after more than 30 rockets were fired from southern Lebanon towards the occupied territories in retaliation for the occupation regime’s ongoing attacks on Palestinian worshipers observing the holy month of Ramadan in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
An Israeli spokesperson said that the Iron Dome air security system intercepted 25 rockets, while at least five rockets landed in occupied Palestinian lands.
Lebanon warns against Israeli escalation
The Israeli Foreign Ministry announced that it is instructing Israeli missions around the world to inform the “international community” that “Israel will respond to today’s rocket barrage from Lebanon.”
In response, the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned against “Israel’s escalation intentions” that threaten regional and international peace and security.
The statement called on the international community to “pressure Israel to stop the escalation,” and expressed the Lebanese government’s willingness to cooperate with the international peacekeeping forces—United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)—operating in southern Lebanon.
The Foreign Ministry also announced that Lebanon will present a complaint before the UN Security Council against Israel for “flagrant violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty.”
Palestinian Resistance vows retaliation, Hezbollah announces support
The Joint Platform of the Palestinian Resistance factions announced that it is ready to respond to any aggression that the Israeli occupation carries out against Gaza.
“We affirm the readiness of the Resistance to confront and respond with all force to any aggression, and to defend our people in all their places of existence,” the factions announced in a statement.
They warned the Israeli occupation against attacking the Palestinian people, calling on “the criminal enemy to stop its savage aggression against Al-Aqsa Mosque” and the worshipers stationed inside it.
Earlier on Thursday, April 6, Hezbollah announced that it would support “all measures” that Palestinian resistance groups may take against Israel after the regime forces violently raided the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
“Hezbollah proclaims its full solidarity with the Palestinian people and the resistance groups, and pledges that it will stand with them in all measures they take to protect worshipers and al-Aqsa Mosque and to deter the enemy from continuing its attacks,” the Lebanese resistance organization said in a statement.
Leaders and organizations across the Middle East, including the president of Iran and the Arab League, have condemned the occupation regime’s desecration of the al-Aqsa Mosque and its escalation, highlighting that this is pushing the region towards war.
Although attacking Palestinian devotees during Ramadan is a regular tactic of Israel, this time there is the added factor of ongoing protests in Israel against Prime Minister Netanyahu and his proposed judicial reform. According to many analysts, Netanyahu is looking for any excuse to go to war against Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, or Iran in order to try to channel the internal discontent away from him and towards any of the apartheid state’s designated enemies. Netanyahu could even use a probable war situation to declare an emergency in Israel and thus ban all types of protests in the territory.