Less than two days after Palestinians rioters on the Temple Mount demanded Hamas to fire rockets at Israel, the Gaza-based terrorist group has launched a barrage of missiles aimed at Jerusalem and other cities in central Israel.
At least seven rockets were fired at the Holy City on Monday evening. One of them landed in the western part of the Jerusalem district, the Israeli media reported. “A rocket struck a house in the Jerusalem suburb of Mevasseret Zion, causing damage but no injuries,” Israeli broadcaster Arutz Sheva confirmed.
Israeli parliament, the Knesset, was evacuated and thousands of residents in Jerusalem’s Old City sought shelter from Hamas rockets, local media reports say. “Rocket sirens blared and explosions were heard across the Jerusalem area Monday evening, sending people outdoors scrambling for cover and Knesset members running for bomb shelters,” Israeli news outlet YNet News reported.
The Jerusalem Post reported the Hamas rocket fire:
Rocket sirens sounded in central Israel and Jerusalem on Monday evening as thousands of Israelis were parading through downtown to celebrate Jerusalem Day. Hamas had threatened Israel earlier in the day that it would launch the rockets due to the ongoing clashes in Jerusalem.The IDF said that seven rockets were fired towards the capital and one was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system.According to reports on Channel 12, an uninhabited building was struck by a rocket and a fire broke out in another community, though it is unclear whether it was because a rocket landed there or just shrapnel.Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad took responsibility for the rocket fire saying that it was “in response to [Israeli] crimes and aggression against the holy city and harassment of our people in Sheikh Jarrah and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and this is a message that the enemy should understand well.”Dozens of rockets were also fired towards Sderot, Ashkelon and neighboring communities shortly after the rockets were fired towards Jerusalem.
The Hamas rocket attack on Israeli cities comes as Palestinians rioters continue to rampage in Jerusalem. Since the month of Ramadan began on April 13, the weekend prayers on the Temple Mount have been accompanied by attacks on the Jews in the Holy City and violent clashes with the Israeli police.
The Times of Israel reported Monday’s rioting by Palestinians:
Hundreds of Palestinian protesters and at least 21 police officers were injured throughout Monday morning in fierce clashes on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, according to medical officials and police. (…)The Israel Police said rioters had been hurling rocks and other objects from the holy site and launching fireworks at officers, leading them to enter the compound, a relatively uncommon move by Israeli security forces.Riot police responded with tear gas, stun grenades and rubber-coated bullets.
On Friday, the Muslim “worshipers” raised the green flag of Hamas on the Temple Mount. They chanted “we are all Hamas,” and called upon the Gaza-based jihadist group to fire rockets into Israel. The Monday’s rocket barrage on Israeli civilians seems to be Hamas’s response to that bloodthirsty call.
The Israeli military has begun responding to the latest Hamas terror offensive. Three Hamas terrorists were killed after they fired antitank missiles at Israeli civilians from across Gaza. “The alleged targeted killing took place in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, apparently in response to an antitank missile being fired toward an Israeli civilian vehicle,” the Israel Hayom newspaper reported Monday evening.
UPDATE:
The Israeli government vowed to respond to the Hamas rocket attacks. “Israel will respond with great force. We will not tolerate attacks on our territory, our capital, our citizens, or our soldiers,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday evening. “Those who attack us will pay a heavy price,” he added.
The southern Israeli city of Ashkelon is said to have come under repeated Hamas rocket fire, with reports of explosions in the city.
Tel Aviv opened bomb shelters to shield residents from the overnight rocket fire. “The city of Tel Aviv and a number of suburbs, including Rishon Lezion and Ramat Gan, have announced that they are opening public bomb shelters amid growing fears that central Israel may also be targeted by rocket fire,” the Times of Israel reported.
Meanwhile violent Palestinian rioters continued to desecrate on the Temple Mount, throwing bricks and stones at Israeli police, and carrying out an arson attack at the scared site.
“Hamas violence in Israel, Gaza and Jerusalem”
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