Rockets launched at Israel from Gaza during Passover feast

Rocket sirens sounded in the communities of Chavat Shikmim and Dorot near Sderot and in the towns of Patish and Ranen, close to Ofakim near the Gaza Strip early on Thursday morning, the IDF stated. While no interceptors were required, seven rockets were fired and exploded in air, with five fired toward Israeli territories and two fired into the sea in Gaza territory.

This came only hours after two rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip toward Israel on Wednesday evening, during the Passover Seder dinner.

One rocket failed to fire and fell within the Strip while the second landed in an open area near the Gaza border, the Israeli military said.

Sirens did not sound in the nearby Israeli local councils and communities.

The Al-Quds Brigades, the military arm of the Islamic Jihad terror organization, took responsibility for the rocket fire and stated that it was done “in response to what is happening in Jerusalem. Our leadership gives the enemy an hour to leave the Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyards, otherwise we will repeat the operation.”

Israeli police officers during clashes outside the Al Aqsa Mosque, in Jerusalem’s Old City on April 17, 2022. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

The statement came amid the second night in a row of clashes between Palestinians and the police in the al-Aqsa mosque.