During attacks on the Al-Aqsa mosque, Lebanon launched dozens of missiles towards Israel.

The Israeli military said that dozens of rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel on Thursday, in a major escalation that comes amid regional tensions over Israeli police raids at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. 34 rockets were launched from Lebanese territory into Israeli territory, with the majority intercepted but six landing in Israel. The country closed its northern airspace in the wake of the barrage, and no deaths were reported. An Israeli military spokesman said they believed a Palestinian militant group was behind the attack, not the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The Lebanese army confirmed a number of a rockets were launched from the country’s south, but did not detail who had fired them.

The Israeli military spokesman said they believed a Palestinian militant group was behind the attack, not the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The Lebanese army confirmed a number of a rockets were launched from the country’s south, but did not detail who had fired them. Tensions are sky-high in the region after Israeli police storme The incident in al-Aqsa Mosque in Lebanon has sparked retaliatory rocket fire from Gaza into Israel. Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said the incident is a reaction to what happened in the mosque. Lebanon and Israel are considered enemy states, but a truce has largely held since the 2006 war.

There have been several small-scale rocket attacks from Lebanon in recent years that have prompted retaliatory strikes from Israel. The 2006 conflict was the biggest flare-up between Lebanon and Israel since 1982, with 1,200 Lebanese people and 165 Israelis killed in an exchange of fire. Hezbollah fired many rounds of rockets reaching deep into Israeli territory during the conflict. The Israeli military pinned the blame for the rockets on either Hamas or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, with Hecht saying the IDF assumed that “Hezbollah knew about it, and Lebanon also has responsibility.” The Lebanese foreign ministry also said it was ready to cooperate with the United Nations and take steps to “restore calm and stability” in the south, while calling on the international community to put pressure on Israel to stop escalation. The UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said Thursday’s escalation of violence between Lebanon and Israel was “extremely serious” and directed its personnel stationed at the border between the two countries to move to air raid shelters. The White House said it was “extremely concerned by the continuing violence and we urge all sides to avoid further escalation.”