Palestinian terrorists launched three rockets into southern Israel early Thursday. At the same time, Israeli planes struck militant targets in Gaza, part of an escalation hauntingly similar to the buildup to last year's Israel-Gaza war.

The cross-border strikes occurred against the backdrop of simmering Israeli-Palestinian tensions in Jerusalem.

Hundreds of Israeli ultra-nationalists marched toward predominantly Palestinian neighborhoods surrounding Jerusalem's Old City on Wednesday, demonstrating Israeli sovereignty over the contested city viewed as a provocation by Palestinians.

Police closed the main road leading to the Damascus Gate in the Old City, the hub of rioting last year preceding Israel's 11-day conflict with Hamas. Following some shoving with police, the demonstrators gathered near the barriers, waving flags and singing and chanting.

A hilltop shrine in the Old City serves as a vibrant focal point for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has served as a spark for prior outbreaks of violence. It is the third holiest site in Islam, known to Muslims as the Al Aqsa Mosque compound. Additionally, it is Judaism's most sacred site, regarded by Jews as the Temple Mount, the location of their biblical temples.

For Palestinians, the mosque compound, overseen by Muslim clerics, is also a rare instance of Palestinian governance in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem. Palestinians aim to establish a future capital in East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied during the 1967 Middle East war.

In Gaza, Palestinian terrorist factions — the dominant Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad — have positioned themselves as protectors of the holy city of Jerusalem. On Wednesday, Hamas stated that Israel would carry "full responsibility for the repercussions" if the demonstrators were permitted to "to approach our holy sites."

Several missiles were fired overnight from Gaza. Israel intercepted four rockets fired early Thursday, the military said. There were no early reports of injuries or property damage, and there was no claim of responsibility for the missile strikes. Israel blames Hamas for all rocket attacks.

Israeli airplanes launched a series of airstrikes in the central Gaza Strip early Thursday, local media said. Activists' social media posts depicted smoke pouring in the air. According to the Israeli military, the attacks targeted a militant base and the entrance to a tunnel leading to an underground complex containing chemicals used to manufacture rockets.

Later in the day, the military stated that its planes hit another Hamas location due to an anti-aircraft missile fired from Gaza during the original raids. It noted that the missile missed its intended target and that no injuries or property damage were reported.

Tensions have risen significantly in recent weeks due to a spate of violent attacks inside Israel, Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank, and numerous skirmishes between Israelis and Palestinians at the Al Aqsa compound.

Last May, Palestinian militants in Gaza fired missiles toward Jerusalem as hundreds of Israelis marched to the Old City following weeks of protests and clashes in and around Al-Aqsa. These circumstances precipitated an 11-day battle between Israel and Hamas.

Israeli nationalists organized such marches to assert sovereignty over east Jerusalem, which Israel took in 1967 with the West Bank and Gaza and annexed in an unrecognized move. Palestinians seek independence from Israel in all three regions and regard east Jerusalem as their capital.