Israel, Gaza militants exchange fire amid rising tensions

Israel launched airstrikes against sites in the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Thursday after militants in the Palestinian enclave fired rockets at Israeli cities, witnesses and security forces said.

The Israeli strikes, which Israel said hit a military post and a tunnel complex used to store chemicals for rocket-engine building, prompted further rocket attacks by the Palestinian militants on Thursday.

Hamas, the Islamist movement that controls the Gaza Strip, said it had fired surface-to-air rockets at Israeli planes. There have been so far no reports of casualties from the Palestinian rocket attacks.

On Tuesday, Israel carried out its first strike on Gaza in months  in response to the first rocket since January from the Palestinian enclave.

The rising violence has raised fears of a repeat of last year's 11-day Israel-Gaza war.

How did the latest tensions start?

The rising tensions come as the Jewish Passover festival coincides with the Muslim holy month Ramadan, with much violence centered on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, known to Jews as the Temple Mount. The site is considered sacred to both Jews and Muslims. 

In late March and early April, 14 people in Israel died in four separate attacks carried out by Palestinians and Israeli Arabs. 

In response, Israel carried out raids across the occupied West Bank, making dozens of arrests. More than 20 Palestinians died, including the attackers, and others who took part in clashes with Israeli forces.

On Thursday, Israeli police said dozens of Palestinian protesters holed up in the mosque had thrown rocks and firecrackers.

The police said they had tried to disperse the protesters using "riot dispersal means," without giving details. A Palestinian official from the mosque administration said police had used stun grenades in the operation, and the Palestinian Red Crescent said 20 people were injured.

On April 15, there was fighting at dawn between Palestinians and Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Police say they were forced to take action when Palestinians threw stones at them and toward an adjacent Jewish holy site. Palestinians have accused Israeli police of using excessive force. 

More than 150 Palestinians and three Israeli police were wounded in the violence, which has been repeated several times on a smaller scale since then.  

On Wednesday, Israeli police were forced to block a march by hundreds of Israeli ultra-nationalists  heading toward predominantly Palestinian areas around Jerusalem's Old City. The march was seen by Palestinians as a provocative display of Israeli control over the disputed city.

 A similar ultra-nationalist march had been due to take place in the Old City last year when Hamas launched a barrage of rockets towards Israel, sparking the 11-day war.

tj/wmr (AFP, AP)