Israel bombed infrastructure belonging to the Palestinian movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Thursdayin the latest episode of a growing escalation of violence despite multiple calls for moderation and calm.

The Israeli police’s intervention on Wednesday morning at Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque, a holy site for Islam, shook the gadfly’s nest of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which coincided with Islamic Ramadan and the Jewish Easter holiday.

Thursday, The Israeli army reported the launch of 34 rockets from Lebanon, in the biggest escalation since 2006 on the border between these two countries that are technically still at war after several conflicts. “We will hit our enemies and we will make them pay the price of any aggression,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after the attack.

Soon after, AFP journalists heard explosions in the Gaza Strip, an area controlled by Hamas and subject to a strict Israeli blockade since 2007. The Israeli army said in a statement that it had bombed two tunnels and “two weapons production sites” belonging to this group “in response to Hamas security breaches in recent days.”

In another statement, Hamas warned that Israel was “responsible for this aggression and its consequences” and called on all Palestinian groups to unite against “the occupation.” The Israeli military command explained that the anti-aircraft defenses intercepted 25 of the missiles launched from Lebanon and that at least five fell on its territory.

His spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht, attributed the action to Palestinian groups.

“We are sure it is Palestinian fire,” he told reporters. “It could be Hamas, it could be Islamic Jihad. We are still trying to come to a final conclusion,” he said.

“We assume that Hezbollah was aware of this and that Lebanon also bears some responsibility. We are also investigating whether Iran is involved,” he added.

Lebanon denies the escalation

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the attack and denied “any escalation of its territory”. The last missile fire from Lebanon at Israel dated back to April 2022, but Thursday’s incident marks the biggest escalation since the 2006 war against the powerful pro-Iranian Lebanese movement Hezbollah.

The United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL), which guards the border between the two countries to ensure the ceasefire, warned that the situation is “extremely serious” and called for “containment to prevent further escalation”.

Emergency services reported a man who was slightly injured by shrapnel and a woman who was injured when she ran for shelter during the attack. “I heard the siren, I heard the ‘boom’. I was at home, it was very scary,” Shlomi Naaman, a 46-year-old resident of the northern Israeli city of Shlomi, told AFP.

The Lebanese National Information Agency noted that Israeli artillery was firing “several projectiles from their positions on the border” against two towns in southern Lebanon.

While the agency reported no casualties, it specified that the bombings were in response to the launch of “several Katyusha missiles” against Israel. An Israeli army spokesman denied these actions.

Hamas calls for “join the ranks”

These episodes take place after the violent eviction of Palestinian worshipers from Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, which left 350 prisoners and 37 injured, according to the Red Crescent.

The temple is located on the Esplanade of the Mosquesthe third holiest site of Islam and in turn located in East Jerusalem, the Palestinian part of the city occupied and annexed by Israel since 1967.

The complex is built on top of the Temple Mount, which is considered the holiest site in Judaism. Israel received numerous international condemnations, including from the UNwhose Secretary General António Guterres again asked “all actors” for “maximum restraint”.

The United States on Thursday condemned the rocket fire, saying Israel had a “legitimate right” to defend itself, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said. The Iranian-backed Lebanese armed movement Hezbollah had said on Thursday it would support “any measures” the groups take against Israel.

Hezbollah, a sworn enemy of Israel, has good relations with Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Hamas leader Ismail Haniya, who arrived in Lebanon for a visit yesterday, said Palestinians “will not stand idly by” in the face of Israeli “aggression.”

He also called on “all Palestinian organizations to join the ranks and step up their resistance to the” Israeli occupation.