Israeli police entered Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque in force before dawn on Wednesday and clashed with worshippers, drawing condemnation from Arab countries and a furious reaction in the occupied West Bank and crossborder strikes in Gaza.
The incident, during the holy month of Ramazan and on the eve of the Jewish Passover, came amid fears that tensions built up during a year of escalating Israeli-Palestinian violence could be unleashed at the Al-Aqsa mosque, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.
Palestinian militants fired at least nine rockets from Gaza into Israel overnight, prompting air strikes from Israel which hit what it said were weapon production sites for the Islamist group Hamas, which controls the blockaded coastal enclave.
Hamas did not claim responsibility for the rocket attacks but said these were in response to the Israeli raid on Al-Aqsa, where clashes in 2021 set off a 10-day war with Gaza.
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