Flare-up on Israel-Lebanon border after skirmishes at Jerusalem holy site

In an apparent spillover of Palestinian-Israeli clashes at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque, a rocket launched from Lebanon hit Israel harmlessly on Monday, prompting Israel to reply with artillery fire.

 

Flareups near the Israeli-Lebanese border are uncommon, and Israel’s top military spokesman, Brigadier-General Ran Kochav, believes the rocket was shot from Lebanon and hit open land in northern Israel.

 

‘We believe this is linked to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Temple Mount disturbances,’ Kochav stated on Israel’s Kan Radio.

 

He was referring to conflicts between Palestinians and Israeli police at Al-Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, over the previous two weeks. Jews venerate the complex as the site of two ancient temples.

 

The Israeli military claimed on Twitter that it fired dozens of shells into ‘open places in south Lebanon, near the launch area, as well as an infrastructure target,’ which it did not name.

 

In the past, small Palestinian factions in Lebanon have fired on Israel on a sporadic basis.

 

However, since a 2006 battle between Israel and Hezbollah militants, who control southern Lebanon and have an arsenal of sophisticated missiles, the border has been mostly peaceful.

 

The chief of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Aroldo Lazaro, has urged ‘calm and moderation,’ according to the mission’s Twitter account.

 

According to medics, at least 57 Palestinians were hurt on Friday in clashes with Israeli police within the Al-Aqsa compound. When hundreds of Palestinians fired rockets and fireworks, police say they interfered.

 

The recent uptick in violence has sparked international alarm about the possibility of a larger confrontation, particularly a replay of last year’s battle between Israel and the Islamists who rule Gaza.

 

Palestinians claim that Israel restricts Muslim worship at Al-Aqsa while failing to enforce a long-standing ban on Jewish prayer at the compound, which was visited by Jewish pilgrim groups during the recent Passover festival, which fell during Ramadan.

 

 

It claims that clashes between Palestinians and police obstruct Muslim freedom of worship, and that it is sticking to a ‘status quo’ in the area, which was taken in a 1967 conflict, in which only Muslims are allowed to pray in the complex.