Jerusalem, Intersection of Three World Religions -- Palestinian Terrorism

"It's just a matter of time, and not much time, until we settle the score."

"We acted in Lebanon, we acted in Gaza, we beefed up forces in the field."

"[Israel's response will always] exact a significant price from our enemies."

Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu

 

"[IDF warplanes struck] terrorist infrastructures belonging to Hamas [in Lebanon]."

"The IDF will not allow the Hamas terrorist organization to operate from within Lebanon and hold the state of Lebanon responsible for every directed fire emanating from its territory."

Israel Defense Forces 

Many of the rockets fired from Gaza were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system  Reuters

Friday was a day dedicated to violence in the Middle East with Israel responding to attacks from Lebanon orchestrated by Hamas, leading the Israel Defense Forces to unleash airstrikes both on Lebanon and on the Gaza Strip. Bringing the area alarmingly close to a potential larger conflict following days of violence in East Jerusalem when Palestinian thugs began to put the anticipated Ramadan threats issued by Hamas and Hezbollah into action. 

Among the worshippers at the Al-Aqsa mosque were young Palestinians who had taken up the incitement urged on by the PA, Hamas, Jordan and Turkey.

Fortifying themselves in the mosque with a collection of stone projectiles and fireworks to challenge the Israeli Police stationed there to ensure an orderly and secure environment at a time when tens of thousands of Muslims customarily attend the mosque for prayers during Ramadan. Barricading themselves into the mosque, lobbing both fireworks and rocks at police, what was to have been peaceful gatherings in prayer during the sacred month was turned into a riot of violence.

Irrespective of the fact that the police reacted to restore order and maintain the safety of innocent people in arresting the thugs, the criticism for desecrating the mosque, Ramadan and those in attendance whose faith was mocked by the rioters, the Islamic world placed blame on Israel for disproportionate use of force in preventing further disruption and possibly severe injuries and death. 

Severe injuries and death did occur, however, at the terrorist hands of Palestinian jihadists targeting civilian Israelis in an ongoing series of violent attacks.

A person wounded in an attack is brought to a hospital in Tel Aviv on Friday. Israeli police said a car rammed into a group of people near a popular seaside park before flipping over. Police also said they shot and killed the driver of the car. (Gideon Markowicz/The Associated Press)

Fighting on Israel's northern and southern borders subsided allowing midday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque to pass peacefully until a Palestinian shooting attack in the West Bank killed two Israeli women, injuring their mother, all witnessed by the women's father driving separately behind them.  As well, a large barrage of rockets had been fired at Israel from southern Lebanon, bringing to mind Israel's 2006 war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In retaliation, the Israeli military sent warplanes to strike Hamas infrastructure after 34 rockets had been sent into northern Israel. The Israeli military pounded weapons production sites and underground Hamas tunnels in Gaza. Israelis living along the southern border were able to return home from safety taken in bomb shelters.Most of the missiles crossing into Israel hit open areas, with one landing in Sderot where shrapnel sliced a house.

After the cowardly attack on the three women driving in the West Bank a Hamas spokesman hailed the death of the two sisters as retaliation "for the crimes committed by Israel in the West Bank and the Al-Aqsa mosque". Over 130,000 Muslims poured into the Al-Aqsa site for midday prayers on Friday, ending without further provocation. 

Before dawn prayers, chaos had once again erupted at an entrance to the esplanade as Israeli police coped with Palestinian worshippers chanting slogans praising Hamas. Soon afterward people leaving the prayers staged a protest on the courtyard, raising fists and shouting imprecations against Israel. Security forces entered the compound after prayers, responding to masked suspects throwing rocks at officers at one of the gates.

The compound, administered by the Islamic waqf and Jordanian officials, condemn Israeli police, while having no comment about the rioters who violently confronted police in clear provocation to elicit a response, in the process trashing the mosque, setting off fireworks within the enclosed space, lobbing rocks from the sacred site, producing an unholy spectacle for Ramadan. 

Elsewhere in Jerusalem's Old City, pilgrims from around the world congregated. Christian faithful retraced the route Jesus is believed to have taken for Good Friday, while Jews celebrated the Passover holiday. The violence imposed on the ancient city by Palestinian terrorists in a sacrilegious display of violence led Israel to appeal to the international community to condemn the rocket fire from Lebanon and Gaza and Hamas's incitement to violence.

Masked militants from the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, perform Friday prayers in Jebaliya City, northern Gaza Strip, on Friday. (Adel Hana/The Associated Press)