- Title: Nine Palestinians, inlcuding three children, killed in Gaza strikes
- Date: 10th May 2021
- Summary: PALESTINIANS GATHERED AT SCENE
- Embargoed: 24th May 2021 19:18
- Keywords: Gaza Israel Jerusalem Palestinians fatalities rockets
- Location: BEIT HANOUN, JABALIYA, GAZA
- City: BEIT HANOUN, JABALIYA, GAZA
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA005ECDQJWN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES
Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired rockets toward the Jerusalem area and southern Israel on Monday (May 10), carrying out a threat to punish Israel for violent confrontations with Palestinians in Jerusalem.
The Gaza health ministry said twenty Palestinians, including nine children, were killed "in a series of strikes in northern Gaza." It did not explicitly blame Israel for the deaths, in an area that has been a staging ground for militants' cross-border rocket attacks.
Rocket sirens sounded in Jerusalem, in nearby towns and in communities near Gaza minutes after the expiry of an ultimatum from the enclave's ruling Hamas Islamist group demanding Israel stand down forces in the al Aqsa mosque compound and another flashpoint in the holy city.
As Israel celebrated "Jerusalem Day" earlier on Monday, marking its capture of eastern sections of the holy city in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, violence erupted at the mosque, Islam's third most sacred site.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said more than 300 Palestinians were injured in clashes with police who fired rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas in the compound, which is also revered by Jews at the site of biblical temples.
The skirmishes, in which police said 21 officers were also hurt, at al Aqsa had died down by the 6 p.m. (1500 GMT) deadline Hamas had set.
Rockets fired from Gaza last hit the Jerusalem area during a 2014 war between Israel and Palestinian militants in the territory.
"The terrorist organizations crossed a red line on Jerusalem Day and attacked us, on the outskirts of Jerusalem," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech.
International efforts to stem the violence appeared to have already begun. A Palestinian official told Reuters that Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations, which have mediated truces between Israel and Hamas in the past, were in contact with the group's leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Israeli Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus said that on Monday, at least six of the 45 rockets fired from Gaza were launched towards Jerusalem's outskirts, where a house was hit. No casualties were reported.
He said Israel had carried out an air strike in northern Gaza against Hamas militants and was looking into reports that children were killed.
Along the fortified Gaza-Israeli border, a Palestinian anti-tank missile fired from the tiny coastal territory struck a civilian vehicle, injuring one Israeli, he said.
Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad militant group claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks.
"This is a message the enemy should understand well," said Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamas's armed wing.
(Production: Mohammed Salem, Fadi Shana, Mohammad Shana, Suheir Sheikh) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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