The Israeli army carried out airstrikes on the Gaza Strip from Thursday night to Friday, while after the attack with more than thirty rockets from the territory of Lebanon attributed to members of Palestinian factions who have taken refuge in that country, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that there will be a strong retaliation, that “the enemies” will “pay the price” for “every” attack.

Air defense sirens sound in Israeli towns around the Gaza Strip overnight.

Earlier, AFP journalists heard at least three loud explosions at around 11:15 p.m. According to a source close to Palestinian security services, three Hamas training camps near Gaza City and another in the central part of the Palestinian enclave under the control of the Islamist group were targeted.

The strikes continued about half an hour later, Israeli jet engines could be clearly heard.

Some 34 rockets were fired at Israel from Lebanese territory yesterday, in the biggest such attack since 2006. The Iron Dome air defense system shot down 25, according to the military. However, at least seven fell on Israeli soil. Two people, a 19-year-old man and a 60-year-old woman, were slightly injured, according to an Israeli emergency service.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, head of one of the most right-wing governments in the country’s history, said “we will hit our enemies and they will pay the price for every attack,” opening a closed cabinet meeting with only ministers attending responsible for security issues.

The atmosphere is extremely tense on the Israel-Lebanon border, where Hezbollah fighters are known to have been put on alert.

The UN blue helmet force in Lebanon, warning that the situation is “very serious”, called for restraint from all parties, to “avoid further escalation”.

Technically, Israel and Lebanon remain at war.

The new flare-up of tension in the region follows two consecutive nights of clashes between Israeli police and worshipers at the Al-Aqsa mosque in east Jerusalem, the Palestinian part of the holy city that Israel has occupied and annexed.

A spokesman for the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, yesterday condemned “the continuation of the barbaric Israeli attacks against believers” in the middle of Ramadan and while since yesterday the Jews celebrate Passover.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah issued a statement yesterday condemning the operations of the Israeli police inside Al-Aqsa and expressing its absolute solidarity with the Palestinians.