Two separate terrorist attacks – one in the West Bank and one in Tel Aviv – again raised tension after Israel’s borders with Lebanon and Gaza were quiet on Friday following heavy Israeli bombing in the early hours of the day.
Two sisters were killed when Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a car in a West Bank. Their mother, who was also in the car, was critically wounded and doctors are fighting to save her life.
On Friday night, a man drove his car into a crowd on the Tel Aviv beach front and then opened fire. One person was killed and five others injured. The driver was shot and killed by a member of the Israeli security forces.
Hamas in Gaza issued a statement praising the Tel Aviv attack and said it was in response to recent clashes at Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa mosque.
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After more than 30 rockets were fired at northern Israel from Lebanon on Thursday – an attack Israel blamed on Hamas – Israeli aircraft struck militant targets in both Lebanon and Gaza, raising concern that another major conflagration was under way.
[ Dozens of rockets fired from Lebanon hit northern IsraelOpens in new window ]
“The Israel Defence Forces will not allow the Hamas terrorist organisation to operate from within Lebanon and holds the state of Lebanon responsible for all fire emanating from its territory,” the army warned.
However, Israel was careful not to target positions of the pro-Iranian Hizbullah militia and, apart from a drone which was shot down by Israel later in the day, there was no response from the Lebanese side.
The Unifil peacekeeping force, which includes Irish soldiers, said it was working to restore calm and that both Israel and Lebanon had said that they were not interested in escalation.
In Gaza, militants fired more than 40 rockets at southern Israel on Friday morning after Israel hit 10 Hamas targets including an underground weapons factory, a tunnel and weapons workshops.
Most of the militant rockets were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system and the area was calm after the early-morning exchange of fire.
Attention shifted to the Old City of Jerusalem where the third Friday prayers of Ramadan took place at the Haram al-Sharif noble sanctuary, revered by Jews as the Temple Mount.
[ Israel exchanges fire with Gaza militants after clashes in Al-Aqsa mosqueOpens in new window ]
Two consecutive nights of clashes between Israeli police and young Palestinians who had barricaded themselves in the mosque were the catalyst for the rocket fire from Gaza and Lebanon and further clashes could have reignited tensions. However, Friday prayers passed off relatively peacefully.
The calm was shattered on Friday afternoon when two sisters, new immigrants from the UK, were killed in a drive-by shooting when Palestinian gunmen opened fire on an Israeli car travelling in the West Bank.
Enemies
Their mother, who was also in the vehicle, was critically wounded and doctors on Friday night were fighting to save her life. The father of the family was travelling in a separate car, just ahead, and turned back after he heard shots and was present as medics arrived.
After visiting the scene, Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said it was a matter of time before the perpetrators were caught.
“Our enemies are once again testing us but will learn that they were mistaken to do so and that Israel will respond forcefully,” he said.
National security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Strength) party, accused the opposition of encouraging Israel’s enemies to start the latest escalation.
“Even when they are not at the wheel,” Mr Ben-Gvir said, “they continue to do harm by encouraging the refusal [of army reservists to volunteer for duty], by harming the economy and spreading the message that the army is disintegrating and our society is crumbling”.
Tension remains high over the weekend and next week as the festivals of Passover, Ramadan and Easter coincide with tens of thousands of pilgrims expected in Jerusalem’s Old City. Some 2,500 police will be on duty as the security alert continues.
