JORDAN’s army announced that a rocket exploded yesterday evening and its debris fell in Jordanian territory near the border with Syria without causing casualties or damage.

It came as the Israeli army announced the launch of artillery strikes in Syria in response to rocket fire from there that landed in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

“At 10:25pm (1925 GMT) yesterday evening, a rocket exploded in the air in the Wadi Aqraba area adjacent to the Syrian border, leading to its debris falling in the same area,” a Jordanian army statement said.

It added that the debris “did not cause any casualties or damage”, noting that a team from the royal engineering corps was inspecting the site of the incident.

The Israeli army had announced weekend overnight strikes in response to Syrian rocket fire in the latest escalation of clashes in the region.

The surge in violence and unrest comes as the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, Jewish Passover and Christian Easter coincide.

On Wednesday, Israeli police stormed the prayer hall of Al-Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third-holiest site, in a pre-dawn raid, drawing widespread condemnation from countries in the region including Jordan.

The next day, more than 30 rockets were fired from Lebanese soil into Israel, which the Israeli army blamed on Palestinian groups, saying it was most likely Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.

Israel then bombarded Gaza and southern Lebanon, targeting “terror infrastructures” that it said belonged to Hamas. – AFP, April 9, 2023.