IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi has postponed a scheduled trip to the United States after Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip dozens of rockets and mortars into Israel overnight Friday, significantly escalating tensions between Hamas and Jerusalem.
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Two more rockets were fired at Israel overnight Saturday. One rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system while the other landed near the Gaza security fence.
Palestinian media outlets reported that hundreds of demonstrators approached the Gaza security fence and clashed with IDF troops, setting tires on fire and hurling firebombs at the soldiers.
Kochavi, who is is weighing "a series of steps for possible responses," to the rocket fire, was to depart for Washington on Sunday in what would have been his first work trip to the United States since becoming the IDF's top general. He was to join other senior diplomatic and defense officials, with Iran's nuclear program and regional belligerence atop the agenda.
As stated, however, communities in the south were greeted with a cacophony of red alert sirens late Friday night after Palestinian terrorists began launching projectiles into Israeli territory.
The IDF said later Saturday morning that at least 36 projectiles had been fired in total during multiple overnight salvos, with most landing in open uninhabited terrain. At least six were intercepted by the Iron Dome system.
In response, the IDF said it successfully targeted rocket launchers and underground infrastructure belonging to Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.
The Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, warned Israel "not to test" its patience.
No casualties were reported on either side of the skirmishes.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization said in a statement on Saturday that "the resistance will respond to any aggression and won't allow the balance of deterrence to be disrupted. The unity and solidarity of our people will foil the enemy's plans."
The rocket fire, the group said, was retaliation for "Israeli aggression" at the al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The mosque was "a red line and the people of east Jerusalem, with the support of the entire Palestinian people, will not allow settlers to defile it."
The terrorist group added that the IDF's attacks in Gaza "will not divert the resistance from carrying out its duties any time it is required."
Skirmishes have spiked in recent days in Jerusalem, which has long been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and is home to holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Residents braced for possible further unrest as police stepped up security and the US Embassy appealed for calm.
On Friday, Israeli police said 44 people were arrested and 20 officers were wounded in a night of chaos in Jerusalem, where security forces separately clashed with Palestinians angry about Ramadan restrictions and Jewish extremists who held an anti-Arab march nearby.
Tor Wennesland, the UN special envoy for the Middle East peace process, called on Saturday for an immediate halt to rocket attacks from Gaza on Israeli targets.
"The indiscriminate launching of rockets towards Israeli population centers violates international law and must stop immediately," he said in a statement.
He also called for ending the "provocative acts across Jerusalem."
"I condemn all such acts of violence and I reiterate my call upon all sides to exercise maximum restraint and avoid further escalation," the diplomat added.
Yamina chairman Naftali Bennett said: "The terrorist of Gaza are firing like crazy at the residents of the south. Arab rioters are perpetrating pogroms against Jews in the heart of our capital Jerusalem. This isn't why we established a state. The Israeli government must act immediately with all the means at its disposal to provide security to the country's citizens."
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Egyptian sources told Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that a security delegation would soon visit Gaza and Israel in an attempt to mediate between the sides, and that on Friday senior Egyptian intelligence officials had already attempted to calm the situation.
According to report in the Haaretz daily, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have told Egypt that they were not looking to escalate tensions with Israel.
Also Friday, sources told Beirut-based news outlet Al-Mayadeen, which is affiliated with Hezbollah, that Israel has asked the Palestinian Authority to work to calm the situation in east Jerusalem. According to the sources, the PA did not respond to the Israeli request.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
