US condemns rocket fire at Israel from Lebanon and Gaza

USA condemned this Thursday the rocket launch against Israel from Lebanon and Gaza, while asking to remain “calm” during the celebrations of Ramadan and Pesaj, the Jewish Passover.

Palestinian militias attacked Israel with seven rockets launched from Gaza and another 34 projectiles from southern Lebanon, causing two injuries from shrapnel, in what is the largest attack from Lebanese territory since 2006.

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“We condemn the firing of rockets from Lebanon and Gaza. Our commitment to Israel’s security is ironclad,” said State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel at a press conference.

Patel further claimed that the Jewish state has “the legitimate right to defend itself against any form of aggression.”

A man surveys the damage to a shopping center from an intercepted rocket that was fired from Lebanon into northern Israel, Thursday, April 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

The Palestinian militias began the exchange of fire yesterday by launching a dozen rockets, after more than 30 Palestinians were injured and some 350 were detained by the Israeli Police during the riots in the mosque Al-Aqsa, sacred to Islam and located on the Esplanade.

The crisis began on Wednesday when Israeli forces forcibly evicted large groups of Muslim worshipers who wanted to spend the night inside the Al Aqsa Mosque, located on Jerusalem’s Old City Mosques.

According to the “status quo” in force since 1967, when Israel occupied the eastern part of Jerusalem, the Esplanade of the Mosques is reserved exclusively for the worship of Muslims.

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In addition, Jordan is custodian of the Muslim and Christian holy places in East Jerusalem, although Israel controls access and visits to those sites.

In this regard, the spokesman for US diplomacy emphasized “the importance of maintaining the ‘status quo’ of the holy places in Jerusalem” and warned that any unilateral action that alters it would be “unacceptable” for the United States.

“We call for moderation and calm during these festivities”Patel said, as this year the Muslim holy month of Ramadan coincides with the Passover celebrations, which began last night and which often see a surge in Jewish attendance at the Esplanade.

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Source: Elcomercio