World
Israel blames Hamas for multiple rockets launched from Lebanon
Israel blamed Hamas for a volley of more than 30 rockets fired from Lebanon on Thursday, following escalating tensions after Israeli police raids on the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem this week.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to hold a meeting of the security cabinet to decide a response to the attack, the biggest rocket attack from Lebanon since 2006, when Israel fought a war with the heavily armed Hezbollah movement.
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“No one should test us, we will take all necessary measures to defend our country and people,” Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said on Twitter.
The Israeli military said 34 rockets were launched from Lebanon, of which 25 were intercepted by its Iron Dome anti-missile system. Israel’s ambulance service said one man had sustained minor shrapnel injuries.
The incident came as Israel faced worldwide pressure following police raids on the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which this year coincides with the Jewish Passover holiday that started on Wednesday evening.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but an Israeli military spokesman placed the blame on Hamas. “The party that fired the rockets from Lebanon is Hamas in Lebanon,” the spokesman said in a tweet.
Three non-Israeli security sources also said Palestinian factions in Lebanon, not Hezbollah, were believed to be responsible for the rocket fire although it was widely assumed that Hezbollah would have to have given its permission.
“It’s not Hezbollah shooting, but it’s hard to believe that Hezbollah didn’t know about it,” Tamir Hayman, a former head of Israeli military intelligence, said on Twitter.
Hamas head Ismail Haniyeh was visiting Lebanon but there was no immediate comment from the group.
There was also no immediate comment from the Lebanese military or Hezbollah.
Palestinian factions in Lebanon, which have a presence in the refugee camps, have fired sporadically on Israel in the past. But the border has been largely quiet since the 2006 war with Hezbollah, which has sway in southern Lebanon and commands an arsenal of advanced rockets.
The US State Department expressed concern at the scenes in the al-Aqsa Mosque, where Israeli police were filmed beating worshippers during raids that officials said were to dislodge groups of young men who had barricaded themselves inside the mosque.
Washington also condemned the launch of rockets from Lebanon and earlier strikes from Gaza and said Israel had the right to defend itself.
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