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JERUSALEM — A rocket fired from Lebanon landed near a kibbutz in Israel early Monday, triggering counter-fire from the Israeli military. The cross-border strikes were the first such exchanges in months, raising fears that recent unrest in Jerusalem and Gaza could spread to Israel’s northern border.
No group in Lebanon immediately claimed responsibility for the missile, which landed in an open field near Metzuva in the Western Galilee region. Lebanese media reported that a Grad rocket was fired from the Ras al-Ein and Qiliya areas south of the coastal town of Tyre.
Israeli artillery units fired about 50 shells at the identified launch site, an army official said. Military officials told Israeli media they suspect Palestinian fighters were more responsible than Hezbollah, the Iran-allied group that, along with its allies, holds a majority of seats in Lebanon’s parliament.
The head of a United Nations force responsible for monitoring the Lebanese border called for restraint on both sides.
Since the recent clashes between police and protesters at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City, Israeli officials have been alert to possible reactions from militant groups.
Palestinians have accused Israel of trampling on Muslim supremacy in a place considered sacred by Islam and Judaism. Police have pursued stone-throwing protesters into the mosque and at other times allowed Jewish visitors in the square to pray in violation of longstanding agreements, Palestinians said. Non-Muslim prayers are banned at the site, which is managed by a Jordanian Islamic trust, but Jewish activists often defy the ban.
Israeli officials have said they are committed to preserving the delicate balance of access to the square, noting that despite the problems faced by thousands of Ramadan worshipers, the site has been kept open for prayer.
Last year, clashes around the mosque and surrounding neighborhoods during Ramadan – between police, Palestinians and right-wing Israeli activists – escalated into an 11-day airstrike between Israel and Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip.
At least five rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza in the past week, prompting retaliatory air strikes. There were no reports of injuries. Officials from both sides have indicated to outside mediators that they do not want a repeat in 2021 of the full-scale fighting that devastated Gaza’s infrastructure, killing more than 250 people there and 13 in Israel.
Clashes in the Old City put increasing pressure on the fragile Israeli government
Israeli officials closed the main Gaza-Israel crossing on Sunday to pressure Hamas to curb militant activity. The move prevents around 12,000 Gazans with Israeli work permits from reaching their jobs and cuts their wages in the week leading up to Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan.
The suspension breaks a months-long buildup of economic ties that both sides say are important to defusing tensions. Hamas officials condemned the move as “collective punishment,” according to the Palestinian media.
But Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Monday the closure would continue until officials were confident the missiles would stop. While officials say the attacks could be the work of smaller militant groups, they blame Hamas for suppressing the action.
“Israel is the strongest country in the region,” Gantz said, according to Israeli media reports. “We will continue to show civil and economic generosity only when security stability is maintained.”
Armed clashes across the Lebanese border also erupted during last year’s Gaza battle. There has been a stretch of relative calm in the north since August 2021, when a barrage of Hezbollah missiles targeted the Golan Heights.
The start on Monday seemed to be a small one. The projectile was detected, the Israeli military said, but did not trigger air raid sirens. “We are examining the possibility that it was not Hezbollah rocket fire and that it was an isolated incident by a rogue,” an Israeli official told Walla News.