Israeli military says rocket fired from Gaza amid tensions

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says a rocket was fired into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip.

It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties or damage from the projectile fired late Wednesday.

Israeli-Palestinian tensions have soared in recent days. A rocket was fired from Gaza earlier this week for the first time in months. Israel carried out airstrikes hours later. No one was hurt and no one claimed that attack.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

Police blocked roads to prevent hundreds of ultra-nationalist Israelis from marching around predominantly Palestinian areas of Jerusalem's Old City on Wednesday, after a similar event nearly a year ago helped trigger an Israel-Gaza war.

Police used parked trucks and barricades just outside the walls of the Old City to close the main road leading down to Damascus Gate, the epicenter of last year's unrest. After some pushing and shoving with police, the marchers rallied near the barricades, waving flags, singing and chanting.

Israeli police deployed in large numbers around the historic Old City, home to major religious sites for Jews, Christians and Muslims, out of concern that confrontations could further inflame an already tense situation during the Jewish holiday of Passover and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Tensions have surged in recent weeks after a series of deadly attacks inside Israel, followed by military operations in the occupied West Bank. On Monday, Palestinian militants fired a rocket from the Gaza Strip into Israel for the first time in months, and Israel responded with airstrikes.

The exchange followed days of clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.

The hilltop shrine in...