JERUSALEM: More than 30 rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel on Thursday, Israel’s military said, amid escalating tension following Israeli police raids on the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem this week.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to hold a meeting of the Security Cabinet to decide a response to the attack, the biggest rocket attack on Israel from Lebanon since 2006, when Israel fought a war with the heavily armed Lebanese Hezbollah.
“No one should test us, we will take all necessary measures to defend our country and people,” Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said on Twitter. The Israeli military said 34 rockets were launched from Lebanon, of which 25 were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome, anti-missile system. Israel’s ambulance service said one man had sustained minor shrapnel injuries.
The incident came as Israel faced worldwide pressure following police raids on the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.