Metro
Israel hits Gaza after rocket attack as Jerusalem tensions spike
Israel carried out its first airstrike on the Gaza Strip in months early Tuesday, in response to a rocket fired from the Palestinian enclave after a weekend of violence around a Jerusalem holy site.
The army also said its special forces had made five arrests overnight in the occupied West Bank, which has seen a string of deadly Israeli raids since several recent fatal attacks against the Jewish state.
The latest tensions have focused on the highly contested Al-Aqsa mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem’s Israeli-annexed Old City.
Palestinian worshippers gathering there for Ramadan prayers have been outraged by visits by religious Jewish under heavy Israeli police protection — as well as restrictions on their own access.
The violence, coinciding with the Jewish Passover festival as well as the Muslim holy month, has sparked fears of a repeat of last year’s events, when similar circumstances sparked an 11-day war that levelled parts of Gaza.
On Monday, warning sirens sounded after a rocket was fired into southern Israel from the blockaded enclave, controlled by the Islamist group Hamas, in the first such incident since early January.
The Israeli military said that the rocket had been intercepted by the Iron Dome air defence system.
Hours later, the Israeli air force said it had hit a Hamas weapons factory in retaliation.
Hamas claimed to have used its “anti-aircraft defences” to counter the raid, which caused no casualties, according to witnesses and security sources in Gaza.
Deadly attacks
No faction in the crowded enclave of 2.3 million inhabitants immediately claimed responsibility for the rocket.
But it comes after weeks of mounting violence, with a total of 23 Palestinians and Arab-Israelis killed, including assailants who targeted Israelis in four deadly attacks.
Those attacks claimed 14 lives, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally.
The rocket fire also followed a weekend of Israeli-Palestinian violence in and around the Al-Aqsa mosque compound that wounded more than 170 people, mostly Palestinian demonstrators.
Diplomatic sources said the United Nations Security Council was to meet Tuesday to discuss the spike in violence.
Israeli police said they had refused to authorise a march Jewish nationalists had planned around the walls of the Old City.
A similar parade last year, following a similar wave of violence, was interrupted by rocket fire from Gaza which in turn triggered the 11-day war.
This month has also seen violence in the West Bank.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said Tuesday it had treated 72 people following a demonstration in the village of Burqa, against a march by Israeli settlers demanding the re-establishment of a nearby settlement evacuated in 2005.
The Red Crescent said four people had been directly hit by tear gas canisters and seven had been hit by rubber-coated bullets.
Regional Arab disquiet
Incidents at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the holiest site in Judaism and the third-holiest in Islam, have triggered repeated rounds of violence over the past century.
Jews are allowed to visit the site at certain times, but they are prohibited from praying there.
The latest spike in violence has strained Israel’s diplomatic relations with some Muslim countries and drawn wider international concern.
On Tuesday, the United Arab Emirates summoned Israel’s ambassador to convey “strong protest and denunciation” of events at Al-Aqsa, particularly “attacks on civilians” and “incursions” by Israeli security forces.
The UAE only established ties with Israel in 2020. Jordan, custodian of east Jerusalem’s holy sites, had already summoned Israel’s charge d’affaires on Monday.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken called both Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Tuesday.
Blinken’s calls followed State Department spokesman Ned Price announcing the previous day that the US had “urged all sides to preserve the historic status quo” at the Al-Aqsa compound and avoid “provocative” steps.
Abbas stressed his complete rejection of any changes to the legal and historical status quo, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA said.
Lapid meanwhile said he emphasised to Blinken “Israel’s responsible and measured efforts in the face of riots by hundreds of Islamic extremists.”
Hamas has vowed to defend Al-Aqsa’s status as “a purely Islamic site”.
But analysts have said in recent weeks that the movement does not want a war at present, partly because its military capacities were degraded by the last one.
They say Hamas is also wary that a new conflict could prompt Israel to cancel thousands of work permits lately issued to residents of impoverished Gaza.
But Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian faction that Israel says has thousands of fighters and rockets in the enclave, warned Monday that it will not be forced “into silence” over events in Jerusalem.
Suspected kidnappers on Wednesday night shot a tomato farmer, Daniel Adesida, and abducted his wife during an attack on their residence along Oda Road in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
The incident reportedly occurred around 8:45 p.m., when the gunmen invaded the residence and attempted to whisk away the farmer’s wife.
Sources said Adesida sustained a gunshot injury to his right hand while trying to resist the attackers, who eventually escaped with his wife.
Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Ondo State Command, Abayomi Jimoh, said police operatives swiftly responded after receiving a distress call.
According to him, officers mobilised to the scene, rescued the injured victim and ensured he received medical attention.
“Upon receiving the distress call, police operatives swiftly mobilised to the scene, ensured the injured victim was rescued and taken to the police clinic for medical attention, and secured the area,” Jimoh said.
He added that the Commissioner of Police in the state, Adebowale Lawal, had ordered an immediate manhunt for the fleeing suspects.
“The Commissioner of Police has ordered intensified patrols, bush combing operations and intelligence gathering within the affected area and adjoining communities with a view to apprehending the fleeing suspects,” he stated.
Jimoh assured residents that efforts were ongoing to rescue the abducted woman and bring the perpetrators to justice.
He also urged members of the public to remain vigilant and promptly report suspicious movements or individuals to the nearest police station.
Three workers of a concrete block factory were on Friday morning abducted in the Olojuoro area of Oluyole Local Government Area, Oyo State.
The victims were said to be staff of a concrete block industry owned by Prince Jelili Oyetunde, located within the council area.
Sources told our correspondent that the workers — identified as Adekola Muidini Asanti, Yinka and Saheed — were kidnapped at gunpoint inside a nearby canteen where they had gone to take breakfast before resuming work for the day.
Speaking with journalists on Saturday, the factory owner, Prince Oyetunde, said Closed Circuit Television footage captured the moment the assailants carried out the abduction.
He alleged that the suspected abductors are Baale Alimi Yusuf, Tunde Lawal, Saheed Olawoyin, Ibrahim Shittu and Sule Adigun.
Oyetunde further alleged that one of the suspects carted away a bag belonging to the factory manager during the operation.
He added that both he and the suspected abductors were scheduled to appear before the Oyo State Anti-Land Grabbing Agency next Wednesday, March 4, over a related dispute.
The businessman disclosed that the incident had been reported to the police.
According to him, the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Sanyo Police Station confirmed that the abductors allegedly took the victims to the station and were instructed to release them.
He, however, lamented that the whereabouts of the workers had remained unknown since they reportedly left the station.
“We have visited police stations within Oluyole Local Government and made announcements on different radio stations, but as of this morning, their whereabouts remain unknown,” Oyetunde said.
The Nigeria Union of Journalists has been thrown into mourning following the death of seven journalists in a fatal road accident in Gombe State.
The journalists reportedly died on Monday while returning from the wedding ceremony of a colleague held in Kaltungo Local Government Area of the state.
Findings revealed that the accident occurred after a tyre burst on the bus conveying the journalists, leading to a loss of control and a fatal crash.
Confirming the incident, the Gombe State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Samson Kaura, said seven persons died in the crash, while four others sustained varying degrees of injuries.
Kaura added that the injured victims were rescued from the scene and taken to medical facilities for treatment.
The Director-General, Government House Press and Media Affairs, Ismaila Misili, also confirmed the death toll, describing the incident as tragic and devastating to the state’s media community.
Reacting, the National President of the NUJ, Alhassan Yahya, in a statement, expressed deep sorrow over the deaths, describing the incident as a huge loss to the journalism profession in Gombe State and Nigeria at large.
Yahya said the deceased journalists were dedicated professionals who served the public with courage, integrity and professionalism.
“They were committed practitioners who served the public with courage, integrity and professionalism. Their loss has left an irreplaceable void in our noble profession,” he said.
The NUJ president also expressed the union’s solidarity with the families of the deceased and members of the Gombe State media community.
“We pray that Almighty God grants eternal rest to the souls of the departed and gives their loved ones the fortitude to bear this painful loss,” he added.
Yahya, speaking on behalf of the National Executive Council and journalists across the country, extended condolences to the Gombe State Council of the NUJ, as well as friends and colleagues of the victims.
He further said the tragic incident highlighted the need for improved road safety measures and responsible driving to prevent avoidable loss of lives, especially among journalists who frequently travel in the course of their duties.
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