The Israeli military said Saturday that three rockets were launched from Syria toward Israeli territory, a rare attack from the country's northeastern neighbor that comes after days of escalating violence on multiple fronts.
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There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the rocket launches, which caused no damage or casualties. Only one rocket managed to cross into Israeli territory and landed in a field in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.
Also on Saturday, Israeli security forces shot and killed a 20-year-old Palestinian terrorist. The Israeli military said it opened fire at Palestinians hurling stones and explosive devices at troops. The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the Palestinian killed in the West Bank town of Azzun as Ayed Salim.
The unusual rocket fire from Syria comes against the backdrop of soaring Israeli-Palestinian tensions touched off by rioters in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, who have been disrupting the peace on Temple Mount by hurling rocks and firing fireworks at police. Israeli efforts to maintain calm and arrest the violent provocateurs prompted terrorists in Lebanon – as well as Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip – to fire a heavy barrage of rockets into Israel. In retaliation, Israeli warplanes struck sites linked to the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza and southern Lebanon.
Late Saturday, a few hundred Palestinian worshippers barricaded themselves in the mosque – which sits on a hilltop in the heart of Jerusalem's Old City sacred to both Muslims and Jews. Israeli police efforts to evict the worshippers locked in the mosque overnight with stockpiled firecrackers and stones spiraled into unrest in the holy site earlier this week.
In light of the weekend escalation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited Opposition Leader Yair Lapid to brief him on the situation after the latter vowed to support the government on security matters in a show of rare unity on both sides.
Capping the latest violence, a shooting Friday in the West Bank and an alleged car-ramming in Tel Aviv killed two British-Israelis and an Italian tourist.
The escalation prompted Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to extend a closure barring entrance to Israel for Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip for the duration of the Jewish holiday of Passover, while police beefed up forces in Jerusalem on the eve of sensitive religious celebrations.
The moves come at a time of heightened religious fervor – with Ramadan coinciding with Passover and Easter celebrations. Jerusalem's Old City, home to key Jewish, Muslim, and Christian holy sites, has been teeming with visitors and religious pilgrims from around the world.
Gallant said that a closure imposed last Wednesday, on the eve of Passover, would remain in effect until the holiday ends on Wednesday night. The order prevents Palestinians from entering Israel for work or to pray in Jerusalem this week, though mass prayers were permitted at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday. Gallant also ordered the Israeli military to be prepared to assist Israeli police. The army later announced that it was deploying additional troops around Jerusalem and in the West Bank.
Over 2,000 police were expected to be deployed in Jerusalem on Sunday – when tens of thousands of Jews are expected to gather at the Western Wall for the special Passover priestly blessing. The Western Wall is the holiest site where Jews can pray and sits next to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, where large crowds gather each day for prayers during Ramadan.
Jerusalem police chief Doron Turgeman met with his commanders on Saturday for a security assessment. He accused the Hamas group, which rules the Gaza Strip, of trying to incite violence ahead of Sunday's priestly blessing with false claims that Jews planned to storm the mosque.
"We will allow the freedom of worship and we will allow the arrival of Muslims to pray," he said, adding that police "will act with determination and sensitivity" to ensure that all faiths can celebrate safely.
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