Amid a surge in violence by Palestinian mobs rioting at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, terrorist group Hamas has intensified rocket fire on Israel. On Friday night, the Gaza-based terrorist group fired rockets into southern Israel, the fourth such attack within the span of a week.
Hamas-backed terrorists fired three rockets overnight but failed to hit populated areas inside Israel. One of the rockets fell inside Gaza, exploding “near a UN school in the city of Beit Hanoun on the northeast edge of Gaza, lightly injuring one passerby,” the Israeli news website Ynet News reported.
Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system has been able to intercept most of the rocket fire from Gaza in recent days.
The Times of Israel reported Friday night’s Hamas rocket attack:
Two rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip at southern Israel on Friday night, the Israel Defense Forces said. Several hours later a third rocket was fired.According to the military, from the first salvo, one rocket landed in an open field in the Sha’ar Hanegev regional council, while the second fell short in the Hamas-run coastal enclave.Some Palestinian media reports said the failed launch landed near a residential area of Beit Hanoun in the northern part of the Strip, injuring one person. There was no immediate statement from Gaza medical authorities on the matter.Early Saturday, a third rocket was fired from the southern Gaza Strip, landing in an open area near a town close to the border, the IDF said. (…)It was the fourth rocket attack on southern Israel in a week, after one fell short in Gaza on Thursday, one landed near a home in the city of Sderot on Wednesday, and another was shot down by air defenses on Monday.
Meanwhile, Palestinian mobs continued to defile and desecrate Jerusalem’s Temple Mount — often touted in the mainstream media as the “third holiest” site of Islam. Over the weekend, gangs of Palestinian men, who barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa mosque on Temple Mount, pelted stones and threw Molotov cocktails at the Israeli security forces and passersby, causing multiple fires in the compound.
On Saturday, Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa mosque were reportedly seen calling for the massacre of Jews. Several videos posted on social media show Arabs chanting: “Khaybar Khaybar, ya yahud, Jaish Muhammad, sa yahud” (“Jews, remember Khaybar, the army of Muhammad is returning.“).
Khaybar refers of a 7th century Jewish community massacred by Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, and his companions. The battle of Khaybar is the earliest example of Jihad where the men of the town were killed by the conquering Muslim army, and women and children were taken as slaves, early Islamic sources say.
The wave of violent protests appears to be in response to a call for ‘mobilization’ at the Temple Mount issued by the Gaza-based terror group. “Hamas in a statement on Thursday called on Palestinians to ‘mobilize at dawn tomorrow in defense of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa mosque’,” The Jerusalem Post reported.
The Israeli government is doing its utmost to defuse the situation, including upholding of a ban on Jewish prayer around the Temple Mount compound during Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting which is set to end in early May.
“Israel is maintaining the status quo, which includes the freedom of prayer for Muslims and the right to visit for non-Muslims. The police enforce the ban on Jewish prayer,” spokesman for Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lior Haiat, said. “Over the last few years, Israel is not allowing Jews to visit the Temple Mount during the last 10 days of Ramadan to prevent any friction,” he added.
The Israeli gestures have done little to stem the surge in rioting and terrorism by the Palestinians. “Israeli security forces are on high alert with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan coinciding with the Jewish holiday Passover and Christianity’s Easter,” the Israeli TV channel i24News noted Saturday. At least 14 innocent people have been killed by Palestinian terrorists during this year’s Ramadan violence.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY