Israel strikes Lebanon, Gaza, as Al-Aqsa crisis escalates

Israel conducted rare airstrikes in Lebanon on Friday, a sharp escalation that sparked fears of a broader conflict after militants fired dozens of rockets from Lebanon into Israeli territory. Israel also continued bombarding 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 one of Jerusalem’s holiest sites.
Although the Israeli military was quick to emphasize that its warplanes struck sites belonging to only Palestinian militant groups, the barrage risks drawing in Israel’s bitter foe Hezbollah, which holds sway over much of southern Lebanon and has in the past portrayed itself as a defender of the Palestinians and the contested city of Jerusalem.
Even as Israel announced it was allowing residents of the south to leave bomb shelters and return home after an hourslong lull in hostilities, the Israeli military said it was boosting infantry and artillery forces along the country’s borders with Lebanon and Gaza “to prepare for all possible scenarios.”