The Israel Defense Forces said it had identified incoming missiles and was responding to the threat, confirming that defensive systems were operating to intercept them.

The exchange followed Israeli strikes described as a “wave” of air attacks on Iran, marking a further escalation in hostilities between the two countries.

No immediate details were provided on damage or casualties from the missile launches or interceptions.

The latest developments come amid intensifying cross-border attacks as the conflict between Israel and Iran continues to expand, raising concerns over broader regional escalation.

Air defense systems were activated following the first barrage, with police and emergency services responding to several locations in the Tel Aviv area.

Israeli media, citing medics, reported that four people sustained light injuries. Police said officers were deployed to multiple impact sites, with local reports indicating as many as nine locations affected.Israeli media said the spread of damage across a relatively wide area suggested the possible use of cluster munitions, which detonate mid-air and disperse smaller bomblets.

There was no immediate independent confirmation of the type of munitions used.Less than two hours after the initial attack, the military reported a second wave of missiles launched from Iran, triggering air raid sirens across large parts of northern and central Israel. In a subsequent statement, authorities said residents were permitted to leave protected shelters, indicating that the immediate threat had subsided.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or significant damage linked to the second barrage.The attacks follow a separate missile strike on Wednesday that injured 14 people, including a child, according to Israeli emergency services, as residents prepared for the Passover holiday.

The exchange underscores escalating hostilities between Iran and Israel, with both sides having previously accused each other of employing cluster munitions in the conflict.

The Israeli military said the incoming missiles activated warning systems across several regions, with interceptions heard over Tel Aviv. In northern Israel, residential buildings were damaged by debris from intercepted projectiles.

No fatalities were reported.The escalation came hours after Trump said he would delay, by five days, a planned strike on Iran’s power grid, citing what he described as “very good and productive” discussions aimed at resolving hostilities in the Middle East.

Iranian officials moved swiftly to counter Trump’s statement. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said no talks had taken place, calling the U.S. claims “fake news” intended to manipulate financial and oil markets and deflect from mounting geopolitical pressure.

According to sources familiar with the matter, Qalibaf had been identified as a key interlocutor in the purported exchanges. However, his public denial cast doubt on the existence of any backchannel diplomacy.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they were continuing operations, including attacks on U.S. targets, and described Trump’s remarks as “psychological operations” with no bearing on Tehran’s military posture.

Global markets reacted sharply to the shifting narrative. Trump’s announcement of a delay in military action had initially buoyed investor sentiment, pushing share prices higher and driving oil below the $100-per-barrel mark after earlier volatility tied to threats of escalation.

By Tuesday, those gains appeared at risk as renewed hostilities and Iran’s rejection of negotiations reintroduced uncertainty into energy markets and broader risk sentiment.

The diplomatic confusion follows Trump’s weekend ultimatum demanding that Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. The strategic waterway carries roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, making it a critical chokepoint for global energy supply.

Iran has not indicated any shift in its stance on the strait, and the continued exchange of threats and military actions has heightened concerns over potential disruptions to energy flows and regional stability.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, made his comment in response to a question during a video conference with journalists in Italy.

“I am ready for an exchange, anything, if this can lead to freedom, to bring the children home. No problem. There is total willingness on my part,” he said.

“The first thing to do is to try to win the release of the hostages, otherwise there will be no way of stopping (an escalation). We are willing to help, even me personally,” he said.

He stressed, however, that he and his office had not yet had any direct contact with Hamas, the militant Islamist group that attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,300 people.

“You can’t talk to Hamas. It is very difficult,” he said.

About 200 people were taken hostage and about a dozen of them are believed to be children.

Pizzaballa oversees Roman Catholic activities in Israel and the Palestinian territories as well as Jordan and Cyprus, a region which is home to an estimated 300,000 Roman Catholics.

Diplomatic efforts have been intensifying to get aid into Gaza as Israel prepares a ground invasion to destroy Hamas.

Authorities in Gaza said at least 2,750 people had so far been killed by the Israeli strikes, a quarter of them children, and nearly 10,000 wounded. Another 1,000 people were missing and believed to be under rubble.

Pizzaballa said that about 1,000 Christians were sheltering in Church buildings in northern Gaza after their homes were destroyed in Israeli strikes.

“They don’t know where to go because moving is dangerous,” he said.

Israel has urged exhausted Gazans to evacuate to the south, which hundreds of thousands have already done in the enclave that is home to more than 2 million people. Hamas, which runs Gaza, has told people to ignore Israel’s message.

Forensic testing of the channels found no blood

An almost three millennia-old network of hewn-rock ducts unearthed in Jerusalem has baffled archaeologists, given the lack of comparable biblical finds, or obvious links to an ancient Jewish temple and palace that once stood nearby.

The knee-deep channels, dating back 2,800 years, are located outside Jerusalem’s walled Old City. They stand in two clusters, which were discovered 10 metres (30 feet) apart.

Forensic testing of the channels found no blood, the Israel Antiquities Authority said – potentially ruling out a role in animal slaughter for banquets or religious sacrifice.

The ducts also do not appear to have engineered a flow in a single direction, or debouched into any basin, suggesting they were not used to sluice out sewage or rainfall, added the authority, whose research partner is Tel Aviv University.

“We looked at the installation and realised that we had stumbled on something unique,” said archaeologist Yiftah Shalev in a joint statement, dubbing the discovery a “mystery”.

The channels may have been used to prepare a commodity “connected to the economy of the temple or palace”, said archaeologist Yuval Gadot in the statement.

“The production of linen, for example, requires soaking the flax for a long time to soften it. Another possibility is that the channels held dates that were left out to be heated by the sun to produce silan (date honey),” Gadot said.

The find, part of Israel’s City of David National Park, will go on public display next week, the statement said.

Smotrich, a key member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nationalist-religious government, said on Monday some of the budget funds meant for Arab local councils were a political pay-off by the previous cabinet that could end up in the hands of “criminals and terrorists”.

“The priorities of our national government… are different from those of the previous leftist government and we should not apologise for that,” said Smotrich, head of the pro-settler Religious Zionism party whose past comments about the Palestinians have drawn international condemnation.

Israel’s public broadcaster Kan first reported the freeze on Sunday when it published a letter from Interior Minister Moshe Arbel to Smotrich, urging him to release 200 million shekels ($54 million) of the funds at stake that are intended for administration and another 100 million for economic development.

Lawmaker Mansour Abbas who heads the United Arab List accused Smotrich of racism.

“Arab citizens are entitled to those funds, which were meant to close the gaps between Arab and Jewish communities,” he told Reuters.

Arab citizens, most of whom are descendants of Palestinians who stayed in the new Israeli state after the 1948 war surrounding its creation, make up about a fifth of Israel’s population.

Netanyahu’s office did not respond to a request for comment, while opposition leader and former prime minister Yair Lapid also accused Smotrich of racism, “abusing Arab citizens simply because they are Arab”.

Israel’s Arab minority has for decades faced social and economic disparities compared with Jewish citizens, including high poverty rates, overcrowded towns lacking in infrastructure and poorly-funded schools.

The extra funds, designated in 2022 for 67 Arab councils, were the state’s acknowledgement of years of insufficient resource allocation to Arab localities, said Ameer Bisharat, head of the National Committee of Arab Local Councils in Israel.

The freeze could mean that councils are unable to provide basic services such as garbage collection or reopening schools after the summer holiday, he said.

‘Hatred And Racism’

Smotrich said a separate 200 million shekels for encouraging academic studies among Palestinians from East Jerusalem would also be frozen until what he described as “extremist Islamic activity” on campus was eradicated.

In May, the government extended a 2018 2.1 billion shekel five-year plan meant to improve education, employment, health and infrastructure in East Jerusalem, which Israel captured in a 1967 war and annexed in a move unrecognised internationally.

It includes programmes to help Palestinians – who make up almost 40% of Jerusalem’s population, with almost two thirds below the poverty line – integrate into Israeli academic institutions.

Smotrich said the new East Jerusalem plan would have a total increased budget but that although encouraging academic studies among the city’s Palestinians was a worthy cause, this also had unwelcome consequences.

“In recent years, radical Islamic cells have developed in Israeli universities and colleges, over and over again they express solidarity with Israel’s enemies,” he said on Facebook, responding to Kan’s report.

It was unclear on what data or research Smotrich had based his radicalisation claim, though he cited pro-Palestinian student protests during the 2021 Israel-Gaza war. The academic institutions involved rejected his claim.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, along with three other institutions, expressed shock at Smotrich’s funding decision, which will affect hundreds of Palestinian students, and urged Netanyahu not to let “voices that promote hatred and racism” prevail.

Security chiefs have made clear that Smotrich’s decision will be counterproductive, the university added.

Footage from the event shows the president handing out medals to the winning players when rowdy fans rush the field and security personnel quickly surround Herzog and escort him off the pitch.

The president said in a statement that fans disrupted the final ceremony so the trophy could not be awarded to the winning team.

“It’s a shame that fans committed to their team, full of pride, who waited 14 years to receive a trophy, did not get this very symbolic and important act,” Herzog said.

The comments by Hamas added to the already heightened tensions ahead of Thursday’s march and threatened to reignite fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, just days after a cease-fire took hold. Two years ago, an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas erupted during the annual march.

While Hamas stayed out of the latest round of fighting, officials with the ruling Islamic militant group urged Palestinians to oppose Thursday’s parade.

“We ask the people of Jerusalem to mobilize the masses to confront the march of the flags in Jerusalem tomorrow,” said Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas official in Gaza.

Hamas also urged Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and inside Israel to “clash with the occupation” and said it would hold a demonstration with Palestinian flags along Gaza’s heavily fortified frontier with Israel.

The parade is meant to mark “Jerusalem Day,” Israel’s annual celebration of its capture of east Jerusalem, including the Old City and its holy sites, in the 1967 Mideast war.

Israel considers the entire city to be its eternal capital. But the international community does not recognize Israel’s annexation of east Jerusalem, and the Palestinians claim the area as the capital of a future state.

In a speech marking Jerusalem Day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has broken “new horizons” since capturing east Jerusalem.

“We are committed to safeguarding the security of Jerusalem, to ensuring its prosperity and to continuing its momentum,” he said. “We are also doing this against all of the threats around us.”

Each year, thousands of Israeli nationalists participate in the march, waving blue and white Israeli flags and singing songs as they walk through the Muslim Quarter and toward the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray.

Israelis describe the parade as a festive event. But in past years, it has been marred by anti-Arab racist chants and violence toward local Palestinians by some of the marchers.

Adding to the combustible atmosphere, large numbers of Jews are expected to visit Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site early Thursday before the parade.

The hilltop compound is known to Jews as the Temple Mount, home to the biblical Jewish Temples, and is the holiest site in Judaism. Palestinians call it the Noble Sanctuary, and today it is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam.

Under longstanding agreements, Jews are permitted to visit the compound but not pray there. But an increase in such visits in recent years, along with scenes of some Jews quietly praying, have raised concerns among Palestinians that Israel is trying to alter the status quo — a charge Israel denies.

The competing claims to the site lie at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and often spill over into violence.

Chief Supt Yoram Segal, a senior police official in Jerusalem, said police would deploy some 2,500 officers on Thursday to ensure the day passes without violence.

“We are going to deal harshly with anyone who tries to disturb the peace,” he told reporters.

The march comes less than a week after Israel and the Islamic Jihad militant group in Gaza reached a cease-fire that ended five days of heavy fighting.

Hamas, the de facto government in Gaza responsible for the plight of the territory’s 2.3 million people, stayed out of the fighting, while Israel avoided attacking the militant group.

Reham Owda, an independent Gaza-based analyst, said that neither side appears interested in resuming cross-border violence.

“No one is interested in fierce escalation,” she said, but she said the parade could trigger “limited, symbolic” firing of rockets that could in turn spark Israeli airstrikes in retaliation.

If violence erupts in Jerusalem, Hamas could jump into the fray, as it did two years ago.

“The resistance is ready to protect Al-Aqsa Mosque and prevent the Judaization of Jerusalem,” al-Masri said.

Jerusalem (AP) — Israel deployed over 2,000 police on Thursday for a march by flag-waving Jewish nationalists through the main Palestinian thoroughfare in Jerusalem’s Old City, a contentious event that comes as tensions are already running high.

Authorities say the beefed up security is a determined effort to ensure the march passes without violence.

Police have decided to allow the thousands of marchers to take the traditional route through the Old City’s Damascus Gate — despite an uptick in Israeli-Palestinian violence over the past year and heavy fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza last week.

Early Thursday, hundreds of Jews were ascending to a sensitive Jerusalem site holy to both Jews and Muslims as part of the day’s activities, visits the Palestinians view as provocative. Among them was at least one Israeli Cabinet minister from the country’s right-wing government, according to Jewish activists leading the visits.

While Israeli officials describe the march as a festive parade, it has been marred by anti-Arab racist chants and violence toward local Palestinians by some of the marchers. Two years ago, it helped spark an 11-day war between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, and the Hamas militant group has urged Palestinians to confront the parade this year.

Chief Supt. Yoram Segal, a senior Jerusalem police official, told reporters Wednesday that authorities were determined to prevent violence this time around.

He said some 2,500 officers were being deployed throughout the area, both to ensure safety and to react quickly toward any potential violence.

“We are going to deal harshly with anyone who tries to disturb the peace,” he said. He said past troubles were caused by a tiny minority of people, but said there there would be no tolerance for incitement or violence that could “endanger the people that are along the route or living along the route.”

Segal said police have been working “hand in hand” with Jewish and Palestinian community leaders to keep things peaceful. He also confirmed that there had been a number of pre-emptive arrests of people who were believed to be planning violent disruptions. He declined to elaborate.

The march marks “Jerusalem Day,” which celebrates Israel’s capture of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel considers all of Jerusalem to be its eternal capital, but its annexation of the eastern sector, home to the city’s most important holy sites, is not internationally recognized. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as capital of their future state.

Each year, thousands of Israeli nationalists participate in the march, waving blue and white Israeli flags and singing songs. But in some cases, protesters chant anti-Arab slogans as they pass by Palestinian onlookers and businesses.

Israel’s national security minister, far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, has joined the march in past years. It was not known whether he would join this year, his first as a Cabinet minister.

On Wednesday, Gaza’s ruling Hamas militant group called on Palestinians to oppose the parade.

“We ask the people of Jerusalem to mobilize the masses to confront the march of the flags in Jerusalem tomorrow,” said Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas official in Gaza.

Hamas urged Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and inside Israel to “clash with the occupation.” It also said it would hold a demonstration, with people waving Palestinian flags along Gaza’s heavily fortified frontier with Israel.

In a test ahead of the parade, about 300 Jews were visiting Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site early Thursday, according to Beyadenu, an activist group that promotes Jewish visits to the site. Police were seen escorting groups of Jewish visitors walking through the compound and more lawmakers were expected to arrive later.

The hilltop compound is known to Jews as the Temple Mount, home to the ancient Jewish Temples, and is the holiest site in Judaism. Palestinians revere it as the Noble Sanctuary, and today it is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam.

Under longstanding agreements, Jews are permitted to visit the site but not pray there. But an increase in such visits, along with scenes of some Jews quietly praying, have raised concerns among Palestinians that Israel is trying to alter the status quo — a charge Israel denies.

The competing claims to the site lie at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and often spill over into violence, including the 2021 war between Israel and Hamas.

The parade comes as fighting in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem is at its highest level in two decades. It also comes just days after a cease-fire took effect ending five days of heavy fighting between Israel and the Islamic Jihad militant group in Gaza.

Hamas stayed on the sidelines during the fighting, and Israel avoided attacking the group in an effort by both sides to contain the violence.

But if unrest erupts in Jerusalem, Hamas could enter the fray. Two years ago, weeks of unrest in Jerusalem erupted into the 11-day war during the parade.

“The resistance is ready to protect Al-Aqsa Mosque and prevent the Judaization of Jerusalem,” al-Masri said.

Israeli police said the limits are needed for safety during Saturday’s celebration at the ancient Church of the Holy Sepulcher, a holy site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected.

Saturday’s “Holy Fire” celebration comes during a recent spate of violence in the Old City, touched off by an Israeli police raid on Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site, the compound that’s home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The tensions spiraled into a regional confrontation between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, and were punctuated Friday when two British-Israeli sisters and their mother were killed after their car came under fire near a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank. The mother succumbed to her wounds on Monday.

Israel, which imposed similar restrictions on the “Holy Fire” event last year, says it wants to prevent another disaster after a crowd stampede in 2021 at a packed Jewish holy site left 45 people dead. Christian leaders say there’s no need to alter a ceremony that has been held for centuries.

Eastern Orthodox Christians believe that on the Saturday before Easter, a miraculous flame appears inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The Greek patriarch enters the Holy Edicule, a chamber built on the traditional site of Jesus’ tomb, and emerges with two lit candles. He passes the flame among thousands of people holding candles, gradually illuminating the walls of the darkened basilica. The flame will be transferred to Orthodox communities in other countries on special flights. The source of the Holy Fire has been a closely guarded secret for centuries, with an abundance of skeptics.

Church officials told reporters in Jerusalem on Wednesday that negotiations with the police over their “heavy-handed” restrictions had failed.

“After many attempts made in good will, we are not able to coordinate with the Israeli authorities as they are enforcing unreasonable restrictions on access to the Holy Sepulcher,” the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem said, calling the limitations “heavy-handed.”

“We will hold the ceremony as customary for two millennia and invite all who wish to worship with us to attend,” said Father Mattheos Siopis of the Greek Orthodox Church. “We leave the authorities to act as they will. The churches will freely worship and do so in peace.”

Israeli police officials acknowledged that they are increasing security and blocking some routes into the dense Old City and that attendance is limited in the ancient church and courtyard. But in a conference call with reporters, officials said the attendance limits — 1,800 people inside the church which Greek Orthodox officials said was a fraction of previous years — were set by the church.

Chief Superintendent Yoram Segal of the Jerusalem District Police told reporters during a conference call that the police’s top priority is safety on a day when Muslims, Christians and Jews are celebrating their own holidays in the square-kilometer (square-half mile) Old City.

“We are going to regulate the movement of crowds,” Segal said, adding that the holy fire ceremony will be available throughout the city on video screens and that meetings with the churches are ongoing.

Since the rise this year of Israel’s most right-wing government in history, Christians say their 2,000-year-old community in the Holy Land has come under increasing attack.