Israel launches strikes in Lebanon and Gaza

Israel said it struck targets belonging to the Palestinian group Hamas in southern Lebanon and Gaza on Friday, amid rising tension days after Israeli police stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Al-Quds.

The escalation in tensions comes after Israeli forces stormed the mosque in occupied East Jerusalem on successive days this week, firing stun grenades and attacking Palestinians as they gathered for Ramadan prayers.

The strikes came hours after dozens of rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory. The barrage from Lebanon was the largest since a 2006 war between the two countries and raised fears of a wider regional escalation.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) international spokesperson Lt. Col. Richard Hecht said Friday the Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon were focused mainly on Palestinian targets in the area from which they believe the rockets were launched into Israel.

The Resistance in Gaza has informed the mediators that any massive aggression against the Strip will be met with an unprecedented response.

The sources added the Resistance has placed its long-range missile units on maximum alert, and the scope and extent of the response will be determined according to the size of the bombing and the targets that are attacked.

The source added that there is complete coordination between the Resistance in Gaza and the operations room of the Axis of Resistance in the region.

In the latest development, two people were killed after resistance fighters opened fire on a vehicle in the occupied West Bank as tensions between Israel and the Palestinians intensify.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service said two women in their 20s were killed and a third in her 40s was seriously wounded. The medics said they pulled the three unconscious women out of their car, which had apparently crashed after gunmen opened fire at it from a nearby vehicle.

The occupation army also shut down the Hamra military checkpoint in the northern West Bank, blocking the movement of Palestinian traffic, according to local sources. They blocked traffic through the checkpoint in both directions.

The checkpoint straddles the road connecting the northern provinces of the West Bank with Jericho and the neighboring villages in the east of the territory.