Israel strikes Hamas positions after troops storm Al-Aqsa Mosque
Israeli warplanes carried out a fresh round of airstrikes against the besieged Gaza Strip early on Wednesday, hours after Israeli forces carried out assault on dozens of Palestinian worshipers inside Al-Aqsa Mosque in Al-Quds’ Old City.
The Israeli occupation army bombed the “Abu Jarad” site, west of Gaza City, in addition to the “Areen” site, northeast of the Nusseirat refugee camp, in the central strip, drawing retaliatory rocket fire from Palestinian resistance fighters in the impoverished coastal enclave.
Explosions were heard west of Gaza City after the Israeli army’s drones targeted a resistance site in that area, Press TV reported.
On Tuesday night, dozens of heavily armed Israeli forces stormed the al-Aqsa Mosque compound before firing tear gas and stun grenades into the Qibli prayer hall, where hundreds of men, women, elderly people and children were staying overnight to pray. Some eyewitnesses said rubber-coated steel bullets were also fired.
Israeli officers then beat worshipers with batons and riot guns, wounding many, before arresting them.
“Inhumane nature of Israel”
Iran has censured Israeli forces’ vicious assault on dozens of Palestinian worshipers inside the mosque, where they were peacefully observing the holy month of Ramadan, saying that the violent raid attests to the inhumane nature of the Tel Aviv regime.
“The brutal attack by the usurping Zionist regime’s military on Palestinian pilgrims and worshipers inside al-Aqsa Mosque has once again laid bare the criminal and inhumane nature of the regime before the eyes of the world,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan’ani tweeted on Wednesday.
“This crime is strongly condemned, and deserves the immediate reaction of the Muslim world, freedom-loving people around the world as well as responsible international bodies,” he added.
On Wednesday, rocket sirens were activated in the settlements around the Gaza Strip, warning of the firing of a missile salvo from the strip, which followed the raids launched by the Israeli warplanes on resistance sites in Gaza.
In a statement, a spokesman for the Israeli occupation army confirmed that nine rockets were launched from Gaza in two waves, noting that the Iron Dome system intercepted only four of them.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip responded to the Israeli aggression by launching surface-to-air missiles at the warplanes.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said that “the Zionist bombing of the Gaza Strip this morning is a failed attempt to prevent Gaza from continuing to support our people in Al-Quds and the West Bank by all means.”
Arab countries condemn ferocious attack
Moreover, several Arab countries have condemned the attack against Muslim worshipers and said they are following up the developments with concern.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the kingdom condemns the incursion and expresses its categorical rejection of such practices, which undermine peace and are contrary to international principles and values that call for respect of religious sanctities.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry also said in a statement that such hateful and reprehensible scenes and repeated Israeli violations of the sanctity of the holy places fuel feelings of anger among all Palestinians and Muslim nations.
Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates also strongly condemned the ferocious assault and called on Israel to stop such acts against worshipers, which it said violate international principles.
Smoke rises amid buildings during Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, on April 5, 2023.