Several Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli air raid in the besieged Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian health ministry, after Hamas launched rockets from the coastal territory towards Israel.
Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesman of the Palestinian ministry of health in Gaza told Al Jazeera that 20 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli raid on the Gaza Strip.
He told Al Jazeera’s Walid Mahmoud that another 65 people were also injured in the air strikes.
The strikes came after Hamas fired several rockets at Israel, after the expiration of the group’s ultimatum demanding Israel stand down forces in the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem.
Earlier on Monday tensions at the compound, the third holiest in Islam which is also revered by Jews, escalated with more than 300 Palestinians wounded after Israeli police stormed the mosque, firing rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas.
