GAZA (Reuters) – Palestinian militants fired rockets into southern Israel for a second day on Thursday, the Israeli military said, after a police raid at a Jerusalem flashpoint holy site triggered crossborder fire and stoked fears of further escalation.
There were no casualties reported in the early morning rocket attack from the blockaded Gaza Strip, controlled by Islamist militant group Hamas.
On Wednesday, Israeli police raided the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, a tinderbox of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The incident, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and on the eve of the Jewish Passover, drew widespread condemnation in the Arab world and concern from the White House.
The Palestinian foreign ministry said the U.N. Security Council would hold a closed door session on Thursday to discuss the raid, which Israeli authorities said was an attempt to prevent violence by clearing groups barricaded inside with weapons, rocks and firecrackers, planning to breach the peace.
At least 12 Palestinians were injured and images of officers beating worshippers inside Islam’s third holiest site circulated on social media. Militants in Gaza fired rockets into Israel soon after, drawing Israeli air strikes.
(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell; Editing by Robert Birsel)