7 rockets fired from Gaza at Jerusalem area: Israeli military

An Israeli policeman carries a piece of remains of a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip in the outskirts of Jerusalem on May 10, 2021. Militants in the Gaza Strip fired seven rockets at the Jerusalem area on Monday, as violence between Israelis and Palestinians was spiralling up. (Photo by Muammar Awad/Xinhua)

JERUSALEM, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Militants in the Gaza Strip fired seven rockets at the Jerusalem area on Monday, as violence between Israelis and Palestinians was spiralling up.

An Israeli military spokesperson said in a statement that air raid sirens were heard in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh, a suburb of Jerusalem, as "seven rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip."

One of the rockets was intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome Aerial Defense System, the army said, without elaborating on the other rockets.

At least one rocket fell in the Jerusalem area, according to a statement issued by the Israeli police.

Israel's Army Radio reported that a rocket hit a house in Beit Nekofa, a Jewish community west of Jerusalem.

The municipality of Beit Shemesh called on residents to stay indoors or in shelters.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Sirens were also sounded in the southern Israeli cities of Ashkelon and Sderot.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad said in a statement that it fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli military vehicle.

The fire came shortly after a 6 p.m. (1500 GMT) ultimatum issued by Hamas, an Islamist Palestinian group, for Israel to withdraw its forces from the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a flashpoint holy site in East Jerusalem.

It also coincided with a tensed Jerusalem Day that marks Israel's controversial annexation of East Jerusalem, a land that Palestinians consider as part of their future capital.