Israel carried out a series of airstrikes in the Gaza Strip late on Friday, September 22, 2023, after Palestinian activists launched incendiary balloons into Israel as a week of violence along the volatile frontier intensified. The rising tensions along Israel's front with Gaza came as fighting in the occupied West Bank surged – to levels unseen in two decades. In the latest bloodshed Friday, the Israeli army killed a Palestinian militant in the northern West Bank. Palestinian activists have been protesting for the past week next to the fence separating Gaza and Israel. The protests have turned violent, with demonstrators hurling explosives toward Israeli troops, and soldiers responding with tear gas and live fire.
For the first time in the current round of unrest, Palestinian protesters on Friday, September 22, launched balloons into Israel, blackening large patches of vegetation on the other side of the border. Palestinian health officials said Israeli fire wounded 28 Palestinians during protests along the barrier. Hamas, the Islamic militant group ruling Gaza since 2007, says youths have organized the protests in response to Israeli provocations. Palestinians in Gaza have launched balloons in the past to protest an Israeli-Egyptian blockade imposed on the territory since 2007. The balloons have caused fires and scorched Israeli farmland, prompting Israel on several occasions to use fighter jets to strike at Hamas.
The evening airstrikes struck three military posts belonging to Hamas, the army said. Israel and Hamas have fought four wars and engaged in numerous smaller battles since Hamas took over the territory. Palestinian protesters at the border fence on Friday said they were demonstrating against recent Jewish visits to a disputed holy site in the Old City of Jerusalem. Jews revere the hilltop compound as the Temple Mount, home to the biblical Jewish Temples. Today, it is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
Under longstanding arrangements, Jews are allowed to visit the site, but not to pray there. But growing numbers of visits – along with scenes of some Jews quietly praying – have raised Palestinian fears that Israel is plotting to divide or take over the site. Israel says it is committed to the longstanding status quo.