Hamdi Yıldız
11 May 2021•Update: 11 May 2021
GAZA CITY, Palestine
Palestinian resistance factions in the Gaza Strip announced the launch of Operation Al-Quds Sword on Tuesday as tensions continued to escalate with Israel.
"As a part of operations, a military armored vehicle belonging to the occupying forces in the northern Gaza Strip was hit and a rocket attack was carried out on Jerusalem," the Joint Chamber of Military Operations for Palestinian Factions said in a statement.
The intensive rocket fire was launched at enemy positions around Tel Aviv and the occupied territories, it said.
"We previously warned the enemy not to insist on attacking our holy sites and our people. The enemy, however, continued its brutality, so it’s time now to pay the price,” it said.
“We have accumulated our military experience in a bid to defend our people, whom we will never abandon. Our weapon is the weapon of all our people," it noted.
“The time when the coward enemy can attack Al-Aqsa [Mosque] and Al-Quds without being held accountable is over.”
Tensions have been running high in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem since last week, when Israeli settlers swarmed in after an Israeli court ordered the eviction of Palestinian families.
Palestinians protesting in solidarity with the residents of Sheikh Jarrah have been targeted by Israeli forces.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed the entire city in 1980 – a move that has never been recognized by the international community.
