Live: Israel and Hamas claim victory as fragile ceasefire holds
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Gaza's health ministry reported that the death toll from Israeli air strikes on the enclave had risen to 25.
Nine of those killed were children, while at least 107 people have been injured.
More than 200 rockets have been fired by Palestinian armed groups towards Israel since Monday, with over 90 percent intercepted by its Iron Dome missile defence system, Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said, according to AFP. At least six Israelis have been injured.
Conricus told reporters that Israel had responded with 130 strikes carried out by fighter jets and attack helicopters on military targets in the enclave, killing 15 commanders from Hamas, and of the group Islamic Jihad.
Questioned on the BBC's Today Programme about Israeli forces entering al-Aqsa Mosque, Mark Regev, an Israeli diplomat and senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, claimed: "We don't act against people acting their religious rights and freedom."
When asked whether the forced evictions of Palestinians in East Jerusalem would continue, Regev said the decision would be down to the courts and that Israel had a "scrupulously independent judiciary".
Responding on Tuesday to Israeli air strikes on Gaza, Jason Lee, Save the Children’s country director in the occupied Palestinian territory, said: “There is no possible justification for children being killed or injured.
"We condemn and demand an immediate stop to the indiscriminate targeting and killing of civilians, including children.
"This is a grave violation of children’s rights and perpetrators must be held to account for their actions and brought to justice.
“Children are already living in grave danger, and with every rocket or airstrike launched they are brutally reminded of this fact.
"We urgently need all parties to stop hostilities and bring an end to the fear and suffering children and families have endured for far too long. How many children have to die before the situation is brought to an end?”
One Palestinian woman was killed in an Israeli bombing that targeted her home in the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Tuesday, the spokesman of the Gaza health ministry told Al-Jazeera in an interview.
According to Ashraf Qedra, the health ministry spokesman, the total deaths resulting from the Israeli raids on Gaza since Monday have reached 22, including nine children and the woman who was killed in an attack in the early hours of Tuesday on her residential home in Al Shati refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. Her children have been wounded in the attack, but their condition is stable, he explained.
He added that 106 have been wounded in the air strikes, some of them in critical condition.
Meanwhile, the military wing of Hamas movement, the de facto ruler of Gaza, said it carried out rocket attacks on Ashkelon, located 13 km north of Gaza, later on Tuesday in retaliation for the night raid that killed the Palestinian woman.
The Israeli attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque and Gaza have triggered various international and regional criticism and calls for calm.
US and UK
The international community, including leaders in the US and UK, have been largely silent over Israel's air strikes on the Gaza Strip and the storming of Al-Aqsa, instead focusing condemnation against Hamas' rockets and calling for calm "on both sides".
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday said the rocket attacks from Gaza against Israel should stop "immediately," and he urged all sides to take steps to reduce tensions.
"We're very focused on the situation in Israel, West Bank, Gaza, very deeply concerned about the rocket attacks that we're seeing now, that they need to stop, they need to stop immediately," Blinken said ahead of a meeting with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi.
US Department of State spokesperson Ned Price said the Biden Administration is 'concerned' about the escalating violence at Al-Aqsa Mosque and in Gaza and urges 'calm' from both sides.
US House Representative Ilhan Omar, however, quickly labelled Israel's strikes "an act of terrorism", saying it would be "unconscionable to not condemn" them.
UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Monday that the United Kingdom condemned the firing of rockets at Jerusalem and locations within Israel.
"The ongoing violence in Jerusalem and Gaza must stop. We need an immediate de-escalation on all sides, and an end to targeting of civilian populations", Raab said on Twitter.
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia condemned the storming of Al-Aqsa mosque in a Twitter statement.
“We express our condemnation in the strongest terms for the blatant attacks carried out by the Israeli occupation forces, against the sanctity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the safety and security of worshipers,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
It urged the international community to hold Israel accountable for its violations of Palestinian rights, and expressed solidarity with Palestinians.
Egypt
Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement expressing its condemnation, "in the strongest terms", of the Israeli forces' repeated storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and the assault on Palestinian worshipers.
The statement urged Israel to "assume its responsibility regarding these rapid and dangerous developments," which could lead to further tension and escalation.
Meanwhile, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb condemned the world’s “shameful silence towards the brutal Zionist terrorism and its shameful violations of the right of Al-Aqsa Mosque, our brothers and our sanctities in Arab Palestine.”
Turkey
In Turkey, thousands took part in demonstrations in Istanbul and Ankara in defiance of a Covid curfew to protest against Israel's raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque and deadly airstrikes in Gaza.
President Recep Tayyib Erdogan, according to a statement from his office, told King Abdullah of Jordan that the "inhumane" attacks against Palestinians were aimed at all Muslims, adding that Turkey and Jordan needed to work together to stop them.
Jordan
Thousands of Jordanians protested near Israel's embassy in Amman on Monday, calling on their government to cancel its peace treaty with Israel in the face of attacks on Jerusalem's al Aqsa mosque and Gaza.
Riot police blocked roads leading to the fortified embassy complex to keep back demonstrators who gathered around the Kaloti mosque in the capital near the Israeli mission.
Jordan, which established diplomatic relations with Israel in 1994, summoned the Israeli charge d'affaires in Amman on Sunday to voice the kingdom's condemnation over Israeli "attacks on worshippers" around the al-Aqsa compound.
Iran
Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, condemned the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque in a statement on Twitter.
“It wasn't enough for the Israeli regime to steal people’s land & homes; Create an Apartheid regime; refuse to vaccinate civilians under illegal occupation,” he said.
“It had to shoot innocent worshippers inside Islam's 3rd Holiest Mosque upon Islam's Holiest Eid,” he added.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said early on Tuesday that its emergency teams have so far dealt with a total of 714 casualties in occupied Palestinian territories. In occupied East Jerusalem, the organisation said it treated 520 cases of wounded Palestinians.
Meanwhile, the organisation said that Israeli forces targeted its medical personnel and ambulances in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem.
According to a press release, one of the Red Crescent ambulances at the Hawara checkpoint in Nablus came under fire, hitting the windshield, in addition to targeting another ambulance with teargas and its side window was shattered in East Jerusalem.
The organisation reported another attack by Israeli forces on an ambulance volunteer in Bab al-Amoud in East Jerusalem, which resulted in a direct wound to him in the stomach.
An ambulance crew at the military checkpoint in Jalameh in Jenin was detained and interrogated, and another ambulance crew was detained and delayed at the military checkpoint in Husan village in Bethlehem, the statement added.
A Palestinian man was killed in the city of Lod after he was shot dead late on Monday evening as protests continued inside Israel in solidarity with Al-Aqsa and Gaza against Israeli attacks.
In footage widely shared online, the man was seen laying on the ground with many people crowded around him and calling for medical attention.
The Palestinian news website Arab48 cited local sources as saying the protester was shot dead by an Israeli settler, while the Israeli newspaper Haaretz said the cause of death was not yet confirmed. Israeli police confirmed the fatality without further explanation.
Arab 48 website identified the victim as Moussa Hassona. It cited a member of the Popular Committee in Lod, Tayseer Shaban, as saying that Israeli settlers fired indiscriminately on crowds of Palestinian demonstrators. He said the protesters "erupted peacefully in support of Al-Aqsa, and were surprised by the bullets of the occupation and its settlers.
Arabs in Israel held massive demonstrations in support of Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Monday, while Israeli police arrested dozens of protesters, and wounded many others as they tried to disperse the protests with rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters.
The mass protests erupted in Nazareth, Shfaram, Umm al-Fahm, Ain Mahal, Tamra, Baqa al-Gharbia, Jaffa, Lod, Ramla and Jaljuliya to protest the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the attack on worshipers and protesters in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and Bab al-Amud Square.
At least 46 Palestinians have so far been arrested in the protests, according to Israeli police.
Palestinians have been protesting over the past few days against the forced eviction of a number of Palestinian families in the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
On 2 May, Israel's Supreme Court ordered that 40 residents of Sheikh Jarrah, including 10 children, be removed from their homes, which would subsequently be given to Israeli settlers. The order sparked massive protests in East Jerusalem, which have spread across cities in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
US Department of State spokesperson Ned Price says the Biden Administration is 'concerned' about the escalating violence at Al-Aqsa Mosque and in Gaza and urges 'calm' from both sides.
A frenetic day has been bookended by Israeli raids in al-Aqsa mosque that injured hundreds of worshippers.
Fear of the notorious Jerusalem Day march further inflaming tensions in Jerusalem by going through the Old City's Muslim quarter were avoided when authorities re-routed the nationalist march.
But days of violence in Jerusalem have shifted to Gaza where Israel has announced a new military operation and air strikes that have so far killed 20 people, including nine children. Hamas earlier demanded Israel withdraw from al-Aqsa by late afternoon and, when it did not, fired a barrage of rockets towards Israeli towns and Jerusalem.
Israel announces new Gaza operation hours after Palestinian children killed in air strikes
Hundreds of Palestinians in Bethlehem protested in support of the Sheikh Jarrah families facing eviction by Israeli settlers.
Marching towards the Israeli separation wall that blocks the city off from Jerusalem, they chanted “Jerusalem is a red line”, “With our blood and souls, we will redeem you, oh Aqsa,” and “Freedom Freedom, Freedom for Sheikh Jarrah.”
Israeli forces fired tear gas and sound bombs at the protesters. Some of them regrouped, setting fire to tires, blocking off the street and throwing rocks.
“We are here today to say no to the oppression that is happening today against our Palestinian brothers and sisters in Sheikh Jarrah and in Jerusalem. We are here to say no to the Israeli policies that have stolen our rights, our land, and our homes from their owners," said Ghaida Amira, 26.
"I feel helpless when I see what is happening in Jerusalem. We have been separated by walls and checkpoints from them, and can’t be with them in person or stand next to them throughout the difficulties they are facing."
Israel has announced operation Guardian of the Walls in Gaza, as it continues air strikes through the night.
Hamas, meanwhile, has also warned that it will soon launch a new wave of missiles at Israel unless Israel "lifts the blockade on the worshippers in al-Asqa mosque."
Israeli forces have violently stormed al-Aqsa mosque for the third time in a matter of days. On Monday evening, following a growing atmosphere of anxiety and a heavy police presence, Israeli forces raided al-Aqsa again.
- Tear gas was used to disperse crowds
- Sound grenades were aimed at people
- Heavily armed police made their way into al-Aqsa, causing further damage to the interiors of the buildings
After hours of attacks against worshippers, trapping hundreds inside the mosque’s buildings, Israeli forces withdrew from the complex.
Earlier today, Israeli forces raided al-Aqsa in huge numbers, leaving hundreds of people injured with many of them hospitalised.
Palestinians have raised concerns about the use of force against them in recent days, particularly the use of rubber-coated bullets targeting people in the eyes and head.
The storming of the third holiest site in Islam, during some of the most highly revered days in the Islamic calendar has sparked global condemnation from governments around the world.
The Palestine Red Crescent repeatedly made calls for a cease in violence and a halt to attacks, which have also targeted their ambulances and staff.
Even for Gazans who have sat through nights of bombardment before, tonight's bombing has felt intense.
Palestinians on social media have reported bombardments in various parts of Gaza, including from the Israeli navy at sea.
"Bombing has been a bit more intense than usual, though they seem to be targeting the same stuff they usually do (so far at least)," Gaza resident Jason Shawa told MEE.
"However we are expecting it to intensify more during the course of the night...just hope my 2 little girls sleep through it."
UK Labour leader Keir Starmer has made a statement condemning Israel’s attacks on Palestinian worshippers, after days of lobbying from party activists.
“The violence against worshippers during Ramadan at the al-Aqsa Mosque was shocking,” he wrote on Monday evening.
“Israel must respect international law, and must take steps, immediately, to work with Palestinian leaders to de-escalate tensions.”
The Labour Muslim Network launched a petition on Saturday, which received over 3,000 signatures, urging opposition leaders to speak out against Israeli aggression and the planned evictions in Sheikh Jarrah.
Reacting to Starmer’s statement, the advocacy group called on Labour to demand an end to “forced expulsions” in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood and a “halt to all arms sales” to Israel.
UK Labour leader Keir Starmer has made a statement condemning Israel’s attacks on Palestinian worshippers, after days of lobbying from party activists.
“The violence against worshippers during Ramadan at the al-Aqsa Mosque was shocking,” he wrote on Monday evening.
“Israel must respect international law, and must take steps, immediately, to work with Palestinian leaders to de-escalate tensions.”
The Labour Muslim Network launched a petition on Saturday, which received over 3,000 signatures, urging opposition leaders to speak out against Israeli aggression and the planned evictions in Sheikh Jarrah.
Reacting to Starmer’s statement, the advocacy group called on Labour to demand an end to “forced expulsions” in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood and a “halt to all arms sales” to Israel.
