Israel launched rare strikes in southern Lebanon early Friday and pressed on with bombing targets in the Gaza Strip in response to rocket fire from Gaza on Leil HaSeder and the launching of 34 rockets from Lebanon on the first day of Pesach. Another 44 rockets were launched into Israel from the Gaza Strip overnight Thursday, with a new salvo fired early Friday morning. Sirens blared in Ashkelon, Sderot, Ibim, Yated, Nir Am, Gavim, Sapir, Nachal Oz, Alumim, and Mefalsim. An apartment in a building in Sderot sustained a direct hit by shrapnel but B’Chasdei Hashem, the residents of the apartment, a mother and a daughter, had run to the safe room and were uninjured. A number of people were treated for shock. The IDF has instructed the residents of the south to stay close to bomb shelters as further rocket attacks are expected. Friday’s strikes in southern Lebanon came a day after terrorists fired nearly three dozen rockets from there at Israel, wounding two people and causing some property damage. The Israeli military said it targeted installations of Hamas, the Palestinian terror group, in southern Lebanon. Israeli strikes in Lebanon risk drawing Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group into the fighting. The Iran-backed group, armed with thousands of rockets and missiles, holds sway over much of southern Lebanon. In recent years, Hezbollah has stayed out of other flareups related to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which stands on a hilltop revered by Muslims and Jews. The Israeli military was careful to note in its announcement about Friday’s attack that it was targeting only sites linked to Palestinian terrorists. The head of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Maj. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro, said he was in contact with Israeli and Lebanese authorities early Friday. The force, known as UNIFIL, said that both sides have said they do not want war. Meanwhile, Israeli air strikes on Gaza resumed early Friday, after terroristss fired more rockets from the blockaded territory, setting off air raid sirens in the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon. The military said targets included the entry shaft to an underground network used for weapons manufacturing. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his Security Cabinet for a three-hour meeting late Thursday. “Israel’s response, tonight and beyond, will extract a heavy price from our enemies,” he said in a statement after the meeting. Almost immediately, Palestinian terrorists in Gaza began firing rockets into southern Israel, setting off air raid sirens across the region. Loud explosions could be heard in Gaza from the Israeli strikes, as outgoing rockets whooshed into the skies toward Israel. For now, Palestinian terrorists have fired only short-range rockets from Gaza, rather than the long-range projectiles that can reach as far as Tel Aviv and typically invite harsher Israeli retaliation. The Israeli military said the rocket fire on its northern and southern fronts was carried out by Palestinian terrorists in connection to this week’s violence at Al-Aqsa where Israeli police stormed into the building with tear gas and stun grenades to confront Palestinians barricaded inside on two straight days. The violent scenes from the mosque ratcheted up tensions across the region. In a briefing with reporters, Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, said the army drew a clear connection between the Lebanese rocket fire and the recent unrest in Jerusalem. […]
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