Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted many of the rockets launched from Gaza and Lebanon
An armed group calling itself the “Rebel Youth Brigade” claimed responsibility for the shooting attack, which killed two Israeli girls and seriously injured a third.
“The enemy must wait for more heroic operations,” the group said in a statement.
The Israeli army spokesman had earlier confirmed the attack.
And the Israeli Ambulance Service announced that the shooting attack, which took place today, Friday, in the Jordan Valley, resulted in the death of two Israeli women in their twenties, and the wounding of a third, who was about 40 years old, with multiple injuries.
On Friday, Israel called on the UN Security Council to condemn Lebanon and Hamas after firing rockets at Israel.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it had contacted the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, and called on the Security Council to condemn what happened.
Israel blamed the Palestinian group Hamas for firing dozens of rockets into Israel from Lebanon and the Gaza Strip since Thursday, which caused damage but no serious injuries.
Today, Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold an emergency security session to assess the situation after the shooting attack that took place earlier today in the Jordan Valley, which is located on the Israeli side.
image copyright Israeli Ambulance Service Twitter
The Israeli Ambulance Service transports the injured woman by helicopter to the hospital.
The Israeli army imposes a “complete military closure” on the entrances and exits of the city of Jericho, and strengthens its presence in the Jordan Valley area in search of those responsible for the operation, which the Israeli army reported that the bomber hit the car of the three Israeli women before shooting them and fleeing.
The Israeli Channel 13 quoted sources in the Israeli army as saying that the Palestinian gunmen fired a large number of bullets, to ensure that the Israeli women were killed in the vehicle, and 22 “blank bullets” were found in the place, apparently from a Kalashnikov weapon.
In a related context, approximately 130,000 worshipers performed the third Friday prayer in the month of Ramadan at Al-Aqsa Mosque, according to the Religious Endowments Department in Jerusalem.
After the prayer, marches and chants denouncing the “occupation” took place inside the mosque’s courtyards, amid the deployment of hundreds of Israeli police and border guards in the Old City and its environs.
Jordanians also marched in the downtown area of the capital, Amman, on Friday, denouncing “the violations and incursions of the Israeli occupation into Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
The participants raised the Jordanian flag and banners supporting the Jordanian position in support of the Palestinian cause, denouncing the violations of the Israeli occupation, and denouncing the attack on the Al-Mourabitoun.
In the same context, Lebanon intends to submit an official complaint to the Security Council following the Israeli bombing and aggression today, Friday, on areas in southern Lebanon.
image copyright EPA
The effects of the destruction caused by the Israeli airstrike on the village of Qlaila, south Lebanon, April 7, 2023.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants in the caretaker government, Abdullah Bou Habib, after consulting with the head of the caretaker government, Najib Mikati, instructed the permanent mission of Lebanon to the United Nations in New York to submit the complaint.
The Lebanese government says that the Israeli attack “constitutes a flagrant violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and a flagrant violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, and threatens the stability that the south enjoyed.”
The Israeli army bombed targets, “including infrastructure belonging to the Hamas movement,” in southern Lebanon at dawn on Friday, according to its tweet, in response to the firing of dozens of missiles from southern Lebanon at northern Israel.
The Israeli army added in the tweet that it would not allow Hamas to operate from inside Lebanon and held the Lebanese state responsible for all directed fire emanating from its territory.
Due to the recent developments, the political dialogue meeting with the head of the political bureau of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, which was scheduled to take place this Friday afternoon in Beirut, was cancelled.
Shortly after the Israeli army bombed southern Lebanon, the Israeli air strikes renewed in Gaza City, with a large number of raids targeting Hamas sites, which caused large explosions and vibrations in the area.
Following the Israeli bombing, several rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards the Israeli side, specifically in the Gaza border area, in what appeared to be a response to the Israeli air raids, which targeted various areas of the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli Iron Dome missile system was launched in an attempt to intercept these missiles. Al-Qassam Brigades also announced that its fighters are making attempts to confront the Israeli planes by firing surface-to-air missiles at them.
Large explosions were heard in various areas of the Gaza Strip, caused by Israeli air strikes.
This comes after clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian worshipers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, and after dozens of rockets were fired from southern Lebanon at northern Israel.
And the Palestinian armed factions announced that, in light of “Israel’s continuous threats against them and against the residents of Gaza, they confirm their readiness to confront and respond with all force to any aggression and to defend the Palestinian people in all their places of residence,” according to a statement issued by them.
image copyright Reuters
In the town of Shlomi, rockets left craters in the ground, destroying cars and a bank
In their statement, the factions added that Israel must stop its “barbaric” aggression against “Al-Aqsa Mosque and the worshipers and those who are staying in it.”
For its part, Hamas said it had no information about who fired the rockets. This attack is the largest of its kind from Lebanon in 17 years.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Israeli internal crisis did not prevent it from responding to what he described as Israel’s enemies.
Netanyahu added that he vowed that those who directed strikes against Israel would pay a heavy price, he said.
Netanyahu’s statements came before the start of the cabinet session for political and security affairs, which decided the nature of the response to the rocket fire from Lebanon.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack, and security sources denied to Reuters that the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group, which controls security in southern Lebanon, where there are several displacement camps hosting Palestinian refugees and armed factions, is behind these attacks.
On the Lebanese side, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates issued a statement saying that Lebanon “reaffirms its full respect for and commitment to UN Security Council Resolution 1701, Lebanon’s keenness on calm and stability in southern Lebanon, and calls on the international community to pressure Israel to stop the escalation.”
The statement added that Lebanon “expresses its readiness to cooperate with the peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon and take appropriate measures to restore calm and stability, and warns of Israel’s escalatory intentions that threaten regional and international peace and security.”
UNIFIL’s deputy director of media, Candice Ardel, issued a statement, noting that “several rockets were fired from southern Lebanon towards Israel on Thursday afternoon. The Israeli army informed UNIFIL that it activated the Iron Dome defense system in response.”
“The current situation is very dangerous,” Ardel warned. “UNIFIL urges restraint and avoids further escalation.”
Calls for restraint
Britain called for de-escalation and respect for what is described as the status quo arrangements regarding the holy sites in Jerusalem, following an escalation of tension over the past days.
British Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, said in a statement today, Friday, that the time has come for all parties in various parts of the Middle East to “de-escalate tension,” noting at the same time that his country condemns “indiscriminate missile attacks from southern Lebanon and Gaza, and recognizes Israel’s right to self-defence.
image copyright Reuters
The Israeli police deployed in the courtyards of the mosque
He added, “We condemn the violence of the Israeli police in Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Israeli security forces must verify – when carrying out their operations – that they are proportionate and in line with international law.”
On Thursday, the United Nations condemned the firing of rockets at northern Israel from Lebanon and urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint, according to a spokesman for the international organization.
Dujarric said, “The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon remains in contact with the authorities on both sides of the Blue Line, and we urge the parties to coordinate with our peacekeeping forces and avoid any unilateral action that would further escalate the situation.”
Amid fears of widening confrontation after a year of escalation of Israeli-Palestinian violence, the UN Security Council held a closed session to discuss the crisis.
He described the US deputy representative to the United Nations, Robert Wood, the situation in the Middle East as serious and said that tensions should not escalate.
“It will be important for everyone to do what they can to de-escalate tensions,” he told reporters on his way to the Security Council meeting.
A spokesman for the US State Department, Vedant Patel, said that the United States is “concerned” about the scenes of violence emerging from Jerusalem, adding that the US administration is in regular contact with its Israeli partners and the Palestinian Authority.