JERUSALEM -Reuters :Israel’s military hit sites in Lebanon and Gaza early on Friday, in retaliation for rocket attacks it blamed on Hamas, as tensions following police raids this week on the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem threatened to spiral out of control.
Israeli authorities said two people were killed during a shooting attack in the occupied West Bank on Friday.
Israel’s military said a shooting attack was carried out on a vehicle near the Hamra settlement. The Magen David Adom ambulance service said two women were killed and a third was seriously wounded.
According to the Associated Press, violence again broke out at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound before dawn prayers on Friday as “Israeli police wielding batons descended on crowds of Palestinian worshippers, who chanted slogans praising Hamas as they tried to squeeze into the site”.
“An hour later, according to videos, people leaving the prayers staged a vast protest on the limestone courtyard, with Palestinians raising their fists and shouting in support of Hamas rocket fire”, the report added. It further said that the Israeli police forced their way into the compound.
