Tensions run high on Temple Mount after night of airstrikes in Gaza

Tensions are running high at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the flashpoint Temple Mount site, Islam’s third-holiest site, where thousands of Muslim worshippers are gathering for Friday prayers during the holy month of Ramadan, following a long night of Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip and a rare strike in Lebanon overnight.

According to reports in the Hebrew media, Palestinian worshippers at the site were calling to support the “resistance,” a reference to terror group Hamas, which rules Gaza.

Palestinian worshipers held a protest at the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem following Fajer prayer.#AlAqsaUnderAttack #AlAqsaMosqueUnderAttack #FreePalestine ????????#IsraeliTerrorists #IsraelIsATerrorState #SaveAlAqsaMosque #SaveAlAqsa #IsraeliCrimes… pic.twitter.com/SDp0CuN8TP

— Mona (@ML35209678) April 7, 2023

Israeli security forces expect some 100,000 worshippers at the Temple Mount over the course of Friday.

Overnight, Israel struck multiple sites in the Palestinian enclave, including weapon production sites and tunnels serving Hamas, hours after a barrage of rockets from Gaza and from Lebanon on Thursday.

Israel hit “terror infrastructure” belonging to Hamas in southern Lebanon in the early hours of Friday morning. The group has a presence in southern Lebanon’s Palestinian refugee camps.