The Jerusalem Channel has been consistently pointing out that Hamas rockets endanger not only Jews living in Israel but also Israeli Arabs and Palestinians residing in the targeted areas. Now  Zuheir Hamadan, the mukhtar (Islamic leader) of the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sur Baher has praised Israel for defending the city – and particularly the Al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount – from Hamas rockets, according to a news post in Virtual Jerusalem.

Just days after wide-scale riots by Jerusalem Arabs over the murder of Arab youth Mohammed Al-Khedr, the mukhtar said that Hamas, which claimed to be “defending” the Arabs of Jerusalem, was doing quite the opposite.

“Israel is the one defending Al-Aqsa from the missiles of Hamas,” Hamadan said. Speaking to Israel Radio’s Arabic service, Hamadan said that Hamas’s seemingly careless firing of missiles endangered Arab holy places, as well as Arabs, who live and work in all parts of the country.

According to several reports, rockets have fallen in both Hebron and Ramallah. Security officials confirmed that at least one rocket fired at Jerusalem missed and fell in an Arab neighborhood in Hebron.