More than 20 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza after security forces cracked down on the Jerusalem faithful.
The Israeli army renewed its bombing of the besieged Gaza Strip on Tuesday morning, targeting several areas after firing rockets from the enclave.
New attacks come hours after at least 24 Palestinians – including nine children – were killed in Israeli airstrikes overnight after Hamas fired rockets from coastal territory into Israel, according to the Gaza health ministry.
The fire came after Hamas, Gaza’s ruler, issued an ultimatum demanding Israel withdraw its security forces from the Al-Aqsa Mosque site in occupied East Jerusalem after days of violence against Palestinians.
Israeli police stormed the compound on Monday for the third day in a row, firing rubber-coated steel wheels, stun grenades and tear gas at Palestinian worshipers inside the mosque in the last days of the holy month of Ramadan.
More than 700 Palestinians were injured in Jerusalem and the entire occupied West Bank over the past 24 hours.
Here are the latest updates:
Gaza’s health ministry announces new deaths
Gaza health authorities said three people died overnight, including an elderly woman and a man with special needs, which brought to 24 the total number of deaths in Israeli raids.
He added at least 103 people were injured.
Israel launches more air raids on Gaza
The Israeli army launched new airstrikes against Gaza and said it had attacked “130 targets” since last night “in response” to rockets fired from the strip.
Hamas said it fired dozens of rockets from Gaza after earlier warning Israel to stop violence against Palestinian worshipers at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque.
In a statement issued early Tuesday, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said rocket attacks would continue until Israel stopped “all scenes of terrorism and aggression in Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
