Israeli warplanes attack Gaza after retaliation over al-Aqsa raid

The Israeli regime's warplanes reportedly attack targets inside the Gaza Strip following the firing of retaliatory rockets from the direction of the coastal strip over the regime's savage attacks on Palestinian worshippers inside the al-Aqsa Mosque's compound in the occupied city of al-Quds.

The aircraft targeted the Hay al-Zeitoun area in the south of Gaza City with three missiles, besides attacking various other areas across the Tel Aviv-occupied enclave on Thursday. 

Israeli media outlets said the warplanes were engaged in attacking the resistance movements' positions in Gaza.

An explosion rang out in the city of Rafah, which is likewise located in the southern Gaza Strip.

Palestinian sources identified the other sites that have been targeted by the air raids as a site belonging to the resistance south of Gaza City, an observatory post east of city, an agricultural land in the town of Beit Hanoun in northeastern Gaza, and a location east of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.

Sources inside Gaza told Lebanon's al-Mayadeen television network that all the sites that have been targeted in the Israeli aerial aggression have been evacuated.

It took the resistance outfits, meanwhile, a mere several seconds to respond to the airstrikes with rocket barrages. 

The resistance's retaliation set off sirens in the city of Sderot as well as the illegal settlements of Nirim and Nir Am near Gaza's border in the occupied territories.

Earlier in the day, Hamas vowed that Palestinians will not remain indifferent and inactive in the face of the Israeli regime's ongoing acts of aggression targeting the al-Aqsa Mosque's compound in the holy occupied city of al-Quds.

"Our Palestinian people and the Palestinian resistance groups will not sit idly by" in the face of the occupying regime's "savage aggression" against al-Aqsa, said Ismail Haniyeh, who runs the Gaza Strip-based Palestinian resistance movement's Politburo.

In his statement, Haniyeh called on "all Palestinian organizations to unify their ranks and intensify their resistance against the Zionist occupation."

The Hamas official made the remarks following several days of aggression waged by the Israeli regime's forces against Palestinian worshippers at the compound -- Islam's third-holiest site, which is located in al-Quds' Old City.

The violence has seen the regime's forces raiding the site and trying to evacuate the worshipers by firing stun grenades and rubber bullets. Worshipers threw objects at the Israeli troops in response.

The aggression began on Wednesday, when the forces attacked the compound, beating the Palestinian worshipers there before arresting and forcing out more than 350 of them. Dozens of Palestinians were wounded as a result of the troops' violence.

Also on Wednesday, the Arab League's Ministerial Council vehemently condemned the first bout of Israeli aggression against the "defenseless worshipers in al-Aqsa Mosque."

Rocket barrages fired from Lebanon as Hezbollah warns Israel over Aqsa Mosque raids

At least 30 rockets have reportedly been launched from southern Lebanon into the Israeli-occupied territories in retaliation for raids by Israeli forces.

Retaliating against the Israeli aggression targeting al-Aqsa, resistance fighters based in Gaza have fired at least nine rockets toward the occupied territories.

Also on Thursday, at least 30 rockets were reportedly launched from southern Lebanon into the Israeli-occupied territories in retaliation for the Israeli raids against the holy compound.

According to the Israeli public broadcaster KAN, the projectiles slammed into the Western and Upper Galilee areas in the northern part of the territories, with some causing injuries and damage.

No person or group has claimed responsibility so far for the rocket fire.

The Israeli regime has, however, accused Palestinian groups of firing the projectiles, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that those staging the retaliation would "pay the price."

The Israeli army radio said the regime had just finished a "cabinet meeting" to discuss the situation at hand and would soon release a relevant statement.

Back in 2021, the Israeli regime's savagery targeting the Palestinian worshipers at al-Aqsa prompted Gaza's resistance outfits to fire thousands of rockets toward the occupied territories.

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