The fear of a new military escalation has not gone away. On Wednesday April 20 evening, a rocket – the second this week – was first fired from the Gaza Strip to fall in a field in the Israeli town of Sderot (south) without causing any injuries. In the process, the Israeli army carried out a series of strikes in the center of this micro-territory of 2.3 million inhabitants, under the control of the Islamists of Hamas.
‘Israeli military jets targeted military positions and the entrance to a tunnel leading to an underground complex, where chemicals used to propel rockets are stored’the Israeli army said.
Four more rockets fired at Israel
Shortly after these retaliatory Israeli strikes, four more rockets were fired at Israel, where they were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile shield, the army said as alarm sirens sounded in the middle of the night in Israeli towns bordering the Gaza Strip.
“The strikes on the Gaza Strip will increase the resolve of our people and the resistance (…) in order to defend our holy places in Jerusalem, regardless of the sacrifices”Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said in a statement.
The exchanges of fire – the second this week and among the most intense since the end of the eleven-day war between Israel and Hamas in May 2021 – come after clashes over the weekend between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police on the esplanade. of the Mosques of Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam and the first holiest site in Judaism under its name of the Temple Mount.
The presence of Jews – who can visit the esplanade under specific conditions and times but cannot pray there by virtue of a tacit agreement – and of police officers on site during Ramadan, has been perceived by the Palestinians and several countries of the region as a gesture of provocation.
Israeli police prevented hundreds of Jewish nationalist demonstrators from approaching the Muslim quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem on Wednesday evening, where the esplanade of the Mosques is located, in order to avoid clashes. Nationalist organizations had called for this great march, a demonstration considered a gesture of ” provocation “ from the government.
Jewish nationalist protesters blocked by police
More than a thousand demonstrators carrying Israeli flags gathered in the early evening in Tsahal Square, near the town hall, opposite the Old City. And hundreds of demonstrators tried to approach Damascus Gate, the main entrance to the city’s Muslim quarter. But police blocked protesters, including many supporters of far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben Gvir, who had been barred from the area earlier in the day by Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
‘I will not allow Ben Gvir’s political provocation to endanger Israeli soldiers and police, and further complicate their mission’said the Prime Minister.
“I say it clearly (…)I will not bendretorted to Agence France-Presse (AFP) Mr. Ben Gvir. By what law am I not allowed to enter Damascus Gate? »
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres is “deeply concerned about the deterioration of the situation in Jerusalem”said his spokesman in New York on Wednesday. “He is in contact with all parties in order to reduce tensions, prevent inflammatory actions and rhetoric”.
On Friday and Sunday, clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli police had injured more than 170 on the esplanade of the Mosques, while the celebrations of the Muslim month of Ramadan and Passover coincided.