Mustafa Deveci
16 May 2021•Update: 16 May 2021
JERUSALEM
Palestinian resistance groups fired rockets at Tel Aviv and surrounding areas late Saturday in response to Israeli army attacks on the Gaza Strip.
Sirens sounded in and around Tel Aviv due to the large number of missiles launched from Gaza with most being intercepted by Israel’s air defense system, according to video footage on social media.
Tel Aviv has yet to comment on the attacks.
Hamas' military wing, the Ezzeddin al-Qassam Brigades, said the attacks were carried out in response to Israel’s attacks on multi-story buildings and houses where civilians live in Gaza.
Tensions have been running high in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem and at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Damascus Gate since the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan as Israeli forces and settlers assaulted Palestinians.
Tensions moved from East Jerusalem to Gaza after Palestinian resistance groups there vowed to retaliate for Israeli assaults on Al-Aqsa Mosque and Sheikh Jarrah if they were not halted.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.
Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed at least 145 Palestinians, including 41 children and 23 women and caused injuries to 1,100 since May 10, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Nine people have been killed in Israel by rockets fired from Gaza.
*Writing by Sena Guler
