ISRAEL launched a barrage of missile strikes into Lebanon today in a sharp escalation that sparked fears of a wider war.

This came after Palestinian fighters staged retaliations after days of violence from the Israeli forces towards worshippers at one of Jerusalem’s holiest sites.

Rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel as the Israeli army continued to bombard the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon — what analysts described as the most serious border violence since Israel’s 2006 war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group — threatened to push the confrontation into a dangerous new phase following violence at the al-Aqsa mosque.

Although the Israeli military said its air strikes only targeted sites belonging to Palestinian militant groups, the barrage risks drawing Hezbollah into the conflict with Israel. 

The Israeli military said that it held Lebanon accountable for the attacks originating from its territory.

Israeli missile strikes were reported in the towns of Maaliya and Qalili. 

“I was sleeping and suddenly I couldn’t feel anything except the impact,” said Qalili resident Majid Abdelsattar. 

He said the strikes damaged his parents’ house. 

There are no reports of any casualties from the attacks on Lebanon or Gaza. But the Palestinian Health Ministry said that one of the missiles had struck and damaged a children’s hospital in Gaza City.

“This is not the first time that health facilities have been targeted, and it is unacceptable,” the ministry said of the damage to Al Dorra Paediatric Hospital.

Israeli police raids at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem spiralled into unrest and sparked outrage in the Arab world. 

The holy site, a tinderbox for Israeli-Palestinian tensions, sits on a hilltop sacred to both Muslims and Jews. In 2021, an escalation also triggered by clashes at the al-Aqsa compound sparked an 11-day war between Israel and Gaza’s ruling Hamas group.

On Friday, violence again broke out at the mosque when baton-wielding Israeli police descended on crowds of Palestinian worshippers. 

Police said security forces entered the holy compound after prayers in response to “masked suspects” who threw rocks towards officers at one of the gates.

Scenes of Israeli police beating and dispersing Palestinians is likely to further inflame tensions during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The Israeli military said both sides wanted to avoid a full-blown conflict. “Quiet will be answered with quiet,” Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht, a spokesman for the Israeli military, told reporters today.