Tel-Chai Nation

The Hamas opened fire anew on Israeli targets during a day that was meant to be a celebration:

Rocket sirens sounded in central Israel and Jerusalem on Monday evening as thousands of Israelis were parading through downtown to celebrate Jerusalem Day. Hamas had threatened Israel earlier in the day that it would launch the rockets due to the ongoing clashes in Jerusalem.

Shortly after the rocket fire, at least two people were injured in an IDF strike near Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian reports. In a separate strike, one person, suspected of being a terrorist who had fired rockets shortly before, was killed, according to Palestinian reports.

The IDF said that seven rockets were fired towards the capital and one was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system. According to reports on Channel 12, an uninhabited building was struck by a rocket and a fire broke out in another community, though it is unclear whether it was because a rocket landed there or just shrapnel.

Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad took responsibility for the rocket fire saying that it was "in response to [Israeli] crimes and aggression against the holy city and harassment of our people in Sheikh Jarrah and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and this is a message that the enemy should understand well."

Dozens of rockets were also fired towards Sderot, Ashkelon and neighboring communities shortly after the rockets were fired towards Jerusalem.

The army has responded. But this is already a bad sign of what we're facing in an era that's increasingly Orwellian.

Labels: anti-semitism, islam, Israel, Jerusalem, jihad, military, terrorism, war on terror