Gaza militants, Israel exchanged new missile fire and airstrikes

Violent clashes over Jerusalem erupted on Monday, with Gaza health officials reporting that Israeli airstrikes killed at least 20 civilians, including nine children after Palestinian militant groups fired rockets near Jerusalem.

Following the crossing of a "red line" by militants in Gaza, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, by firing on the Jerusalem area for the first time since a 2014 war, Israel's military said it pulled out strikes targeting armed groups, rocket launchers, and army bases in Gaza.

Palestinians reported hearing loud explosions close to Gaza City and across the coastal strip as rocket fire and Israeli airstrikes continued late into the night. Israel's military said shortly before midnight local time that Palestinian rebels had launched about 150 rockets into Israel, with hundreds intercepted by the country's missile defence systems.

The rocket attacks from Gaza against Israel, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, should be stopped "immediately." He encouraged both parties to take action to de-escalate the situation.

Early morning clashes broke out at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's walled Old City, on the compound known to Jews as Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary - the most significant site in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

More than 300 Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli police, as per the Palestine Red Crescent Society, who shot rubber bullets, stun grenades, and tear gas into the complex. The skirmishes injured 21 officers, the police said.

The fighting erupted as Israel commemorated "Jerusalem Day," marking the 1967 Arab-Israeli war's conquest of East Jerusalem.

To defuse tensions, police altered the path of a typical Jerusalem Day march, which was set to take thousands of Israeli flag-waving Jewish youth through the Old City near Damascus Gate, a flashpoint in recent weeks.

Even though the violence had subsided by mid-morning, other hotspots of conflict remained, including the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem, just north of the Old City, where many Palestinian families are facing eviction from homes claimed by Jewish settlers in a long-running court case.

Israel considers all of Jerusalem to be its capital, including the eastern portion, which it annexed after the 1967 war in an unpopular move. Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of a state they want in Gaza and the West Bank, which is occupied by Israel.

During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, tensions had been rising for weeks, with clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian demonstrators causing international concern that events could escalate out of control.

The rocket fire on Jerusalem was alleged by Hamas and the smaller militant group Islamic Jihad.

Abu Ubaida, a spokesperson for Hamas' armed wing, said that they had launched "a missile attack against the enemy in occupied Jerusalem in response to their crimes and violence against the holy city and its aggression against our citizens in Sheikh Jarrah and the Al-Aqsa mosque."

“The terrorist organisations crossed a red line on Jerusalem Day and targeted us on the outskirts of Jerusalem,” Netanyahu responded.

“Israel would react very forcefully,” he added. Attacks on our territory, capital, people, and soldiers will not be tolerated. All who attack us will pay a high price.”