Rafael Abrego is facing murder and attempted murder charges as an adult for the April 26 shooting in the 2700 block of South Drake Avenue.

A 17-year-old boy was ordered held without bail over the weekend for allegedly killing a teenage boy and wounding a 16-year-old girl during a drive-by shooting in Little Village.

Rafael Abrego has been charged as an adult on murder and attempted murder charges for the April 26 incident.

Abrego was hiding in the backseat of a Chevrolet that morning when the car’s driver pulled up next to Jorge Cruz and the girl who were walking in the 2700 block of South Drake Avenue, authorities said.

When the driver flashed gang signs, Cruz responded, prompting Abrego to pop up from the backseat and start firing a semi-automatic rifle, Cook County prosecutors said Sunday. The girl immediately dropped to the ground, while 17-year-old Cruz, who was struck in the head and shoulder, tried to run away, prosecutors said. Cruz collapsed to the ground a short distance later. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The girl suffered a shrapnel wound to her chest and a graze wound to her ankle, prosecutors said.

The Chicago police’s ShotSpotter gunshot-detection system recorded an estimated 14 gunshots, although the device was unable to determine the location of the shooting, prosecutors said. Investigators recovered eight .223 caliber casings, one spent .223 caliber casing and a 5.56MM casing. Preliminary ballistics tests determined that the .223 caliber casings — including one recovered from the Chevrolet — were fired from the same weapon, prosecutors said.

Surveillance video captured the Chevrolet heading southbound on Drake Avenue after the shooting, prosecutors said. One of two witnesses who also said they saw the Chevrolet going in that direction described the driver as “flooring it,” prosecutors said.

Four witnesses said they later saw Abrego exit the Chevrolet wearing gray sweatpants, a gray sweatshirt and white gym shoes while holding a large object wrapped in a blanket or clothing, prosecutors said. One witness saw Abrego enter a garage with the covered object. He was later seen leaving the garage in a blue T-shirt and black shorts, prosecutors said.

Surveillance video recorded Abrego returning to the garage that night and filling a red bag with what appeared to be one or more heavy objects, prosecutors said. Abrego also allegedly grabbed some gray clothes and put those in the bag.

Abrego made third-party admissions about his involvement in the shooting, prosecutors said.

Latent print and DNA samples were recovered from the Chevrolet during a search warrant the day after the shooting, but the results of those tests are pending, prosecutors said.

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The early evening attack drastically escalated what already are heightened tensions throughout the region following weeks of confrontations between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters in Jerusalem that have threatened to become a wider conflict.

JERUSALEM — Hamas militants fired dozens of rockets into Israel on Monday, including a barrage that set off air raid sirens as far away as Jerusalem, after hundreds of Palestinians were hurt in clashes with Israeli police at a flashpoint religious site in the contested holy city.

The rocket fire drew heavy Israeli retaliation in the Gaza Strip. Health officials said at least 20 people, including nine children, were killed in fighting, making it one of the bloodiest days of battle between the bitter enemies in several years.

The fighting escalated already heightened tensions throughout the region following weeks of confrontations between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters in Jerusalem. Those confrontations, focused around a disputed hilltop compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, have threatened to spark a wider conflict.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of crossing a “red line” with the rocket attack on Jerusalem, some 60 miles north of Gaza, and promised a tough response.

“Whoever attacks us will pay a heavy price,” he said, warning that the fighting could ”continue for some time.”

In Washington, State Department spokesman Ned Price condemned “in the strongest terms” the rocket fire on Israel and called on all sides to calm the situation.

“More broadly, we’re deeply concerned about the situation in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, including violent confrontations in Jerusalem,” he said.

A diplomatic official said that the United Nations, Egypt and Qatar, which frequently mediate between Israel and Hamas, were all trying to halt the fighting. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue with the media.

The Israeli military said well over 50 rockets were fired into Israel throughout the evening, most of them aimed at southern Israeli towns near the border.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman, said six rockets were aimed at Jerusalem in what was believed to be the first rocket attack on the city since a 2014 war.

Shortly after the sirens sounded, explosions could be heard in Jerusalem. One rocket fell on the western outskirts of the city, lightly damaging a home and causing a brush fire. The Israeli army said one rocket was intercepted and the others fell in open areas.

Israel was responding with airstrikes on Hamas targets throughout Gaza. The army said rocket launchers and eight militants had been targeted.

In Gaza, health officials reported a total of 20 deaths, including nine children.

It did not provide a breakdown, but at least seven members of a family, including three children, were killed in a blast in the northern town of Beit Hanoun. It was not immediately clear if the blast was caused by an airstrike or errant rocket.

Ashraf al-Masri, a member of the family, said there was an explosion outside the house.

“We don’t know where it came from,” he said. “We are trying to get the children for burial but the situation is difficult in Beit Hanoun and we are afraid to leave our houses.”

The Israeli army said an Israeli civilian in the country’s south suffered mild injuries when a vehicle was struck by an anti-tank missile from Gaza.

Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas’ military wing, said the attack on Jerusalem was a response to what he called Israeli “crimes and aggression” in the city. “This is a message the enemy has to understand well,” he said.

He threatened more attacks if Israeli forces re-enter the sacred Al-Aqsa Mosque compound or carry out planned evictions of Palestinian families from an east Jerusalem neighborhood.

Earlier, Israeli police firing tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets clashed with stone-throwing Palestinians at the iconic compound, which is Islam’s third-holiest site and considered Judaism’s holiest. Tensions at the site have been the trigger for prolonged bouts of violence in the past, including the last Palestinian intifada, or uprising.

More than a dozen tear gas canisters and stun grenades landed in the mosque as police and protesters faced off inside the walled compound that surrounds it, said an Associated Press photographer at the scene. Smoke rose in front of the mosque and the golden-domed shrine on the site, and rocks littered the nearby plaza. Inside one area of the compound, shoes and debris lay scattered over ornate carpets.

More than 300 Palestinians were hurt, including 228 who went to hospitals and clinics for treatment, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. Police said 21 officers were hurt, including three who were hospitalized. Israeli paramedics said seven Israeli civilians were also hurt.

In an apparent attempt to avoid further confrontation, Israeli authorities changed the planned route of a march by ultra-nationalist Jews through the Muslim Quarter of the Old City to mark Jerusalem Day, which celebrates Israel’s capture of east Jerusalem.

Monday’s confrontation was the latest after weeks of almost nightly clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops in the Old City of Jerusalem, the emotional center of their conflict, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The month tends to be a time of heightened religious sensitivities.

Most recently, the tensions have been fueled by the planned eviction of dozens of Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of east Jerusalem, where Israeli settlers have waged a lengthy legal battle to take over properties.

Israel’s Supreme Court postponed a key ruling Monday in the case, citing the “circumstances.”

Over the past few days, hundreds of Palestinians and several dozen police officers have been hurt in clashes in and around the Old City, including the sacred compound, which is known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.

The tensions in Jerusalem have threatened to reverberate throughout the region and come at a crucial point in Israel’s political crisis after Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition last week. His opponents are now working to build an alternate government.

Before Monday’s rocket attack on Jerusalem, Palestinian militants had fired several barrages of rockets into southern Israel. Protesters allied with Hamas have launched dozens of incendiary balloons into Israel, setting off fires across the southern part of the country.

Hamas, an Islamic militant group that seeks Israel’s destruction, has fought three wars with Israel since it seized power in Gaza in 2007. The group possesses a vast arsenal of missiles and rockets capable of striking virtually anywhere in Israel.

Israel’s actions in Jerusalem have come under growing international criticism.

The U.N. Security Council scheduled closed consultations on the situation Monday. The United States and European Union have expressed deep concern over the unrest in Jerusalem, urging Israel to calm the situation and not carry out the planned evictions. Arab allies of Israel, along with Turkey, also have condemned Israel’s actions.

Netanyahu pushed back against the criticism Monday, saying Israel is determined to ensure the rights of worship for all and that this “requires from time to time stand up and stand strong as Israeli police and our security forces are doing now.”

In the 1967 Mideast war in which Israel captured east Jerusalem, it also took the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It later annexed east Jerusalem and considers the entire city its capital. The Palestinians seek all three areas for a future state, with east Jerusalem as their capital.

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Akram reported from Gaza City, Gaza Strip. Associated Press Writer Matthew Lee in Washington also contributed to this report.

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Authorities didn’t release the names of the victims, gunman or disclose a possible motive.

DENVER — A shooting at a birthday party inside a trailer park home in Colorado Springs that killed six people before the gunman took his own life stunned a state weary of gun violence just weeks after another Colorado mass shooting killed 10 people.

Police on Monday were investigating what led the gunman, who they said was the boyfriend of one of the victims, to walk into the crowded party early Sunday and open fire.

Six adults were killed at the home at the Canterbury Mobile Home Park on the east side of Colorado’s second-largest city, and a seventh died at a hospital, authorities said. The shooter was the boyfriend of a female victim at the party attended by friends, family and children, police said.

Authorities didn’t release the names of the victims, gunman or disclose a possible motive. Nor did they release any further details on what weapon or weapons were used. Officials were still in the process of identifying the victims, Sandy Wilson of the El Paso County Coroner’s Office said Monday.

The attack follows a series of mass shootings across the U.S. this year, including one on March 22 at a crowded supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, that killed 10 people, including a police officer. The gunman in that attack faces multiple charges including first-degree murder. He has yet to enter a plea pending a mental health evaluation requested by his public defenders.

A mobile crime lab was parked early Monday outside the Colorado Springs home, which was cordoned off by yellow police tape as officers guarded the scene. By midafternoon the tape was gone; a sign stood in front of the home advertising “Grief Support, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.,” at the mobile home park office.

A small crowd of mourners arrived to pay their respects, leaving bouquets of yellow roses and devotional candles on a small table they set up in front of the home. They silently gazed, then left without comment under a dark, gray sky and blustering winds. Someone closed a partially open window in the home from the outside.

Gladis Bustos, who lives three homes away, tearfully recalled the home’s owner, whom she identified as Joana, as a warmhearted, hardworking person who always took the time to say hello to her neighbors, ask how they were doing, and brag about her children.

“She was an incredibly pleasant woman, very beautiful, happy all the time,” Bustos said. “She loved to chat. And she was very proud of her family.”

The gunfire that startled Bustos from her sleep early Sunday had forever changed what she described as a safe and welcoming neighborhood. “We’re all in shock,” she said. “How can this happen here? This is all so painful, so devastating, so overwhelming.”

Another neighbor, Yenifer Reyes, told The Denver Post that she woke to the sound of gunfire and later saw police escorting children who were “crying hysterically” from the home. The children weren’t hurt in the attack and have been placed with relatives, police said.

The first fire crews to respond to the shooting were told to stay back because of possible gunfire — then given an all-clear to approach the home an agonizing eight minutes after the initial dispatch, according to a recording of a Colorado Springs dispatch call.

As the magnitude of the shooting became clearer, the first on the scene requested more ambulances and engine crews. Sirens are heard in the background as responders at the scene request more help.

“Engine 11, sounds like more shots are still being fired — keep your distance,” a dispatcher says at one point. Twenty seconds later the engine crew responds: “Looking like we have multiple victims,” and asks for more ambulances. The dispatcher requests another engine to “2828 Preakness Way, possible multiple gunshot victims.”

More than eight minutes in, the dispatcher says that “police on scene are advising that there are four victims and that you are clear to go in.” Soon thereafter, Engine 11 requests another ambulance; 13 minutes in the dispatcher says: “The sergeant on the scene is saying that medical is cleared to enter for all six patients. … They’re saying we have six.”

The attack was the latest mass killing — defined as four or more dead, not including the shooter — to plague the U.S. this year. Before the Colorado Springs shooting, a database compiled by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University showed there had been at least 11 mass shootings since Jan. 1, compared to just two public mass shootings in 2020.

Colorado Springs saw a 2015 attack on a Planned Parenthood clinic that killed three people, including a police officer, and injured eight others. Earlier that year, a man shot three people to death at random before dying in a shootout with police.

In 2007, a man killed two people and wounded three at Colorado Springs’ New Life Church before taking his own life. Earlier the same day, he’d killed two people and injured two at a Youth With a Mission Center in the Denver suburb of Arvada.

Colorado also suffered the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School that killed 13 people before the two student attackers took their own lives, and the 2012 massacre at the Aurora movie theater that killed 12 people and injured 70.

After the Boulder shooting, Colorado lawmakers introduced a bill to create a state “Office of Gun Violence Prevention” to educate residents about gun safety and collect data on Colorado gun violence. Other bills advancing through the Democrat-led Legislature would tighten background checks, allow municipalities greater freedom to adopt their own gun control laws that are stricter than state law, and require a person facing a protection order related to alleged domestic violence to report what firearms they possess.

Democratic Gov. Jared Polis has signed into law this year legislation requiring safe firearms storage and the reporting of lost or stolen firearms.

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Anderson and Slevin reported from Denver.

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Shots could begin as soon as a federal vaccine advisory committee issues recommendations for using the two-dose vaccine in 12- to 15-year-olds, expected Wednesday.

COVID-19 vaccines finally are headed for more kids as U.S. regulators on Monday expanded use of Pfizer’s shot to those as young as 12, sparking a race to protect middle and high school students before they head back to class in the fall.

Shots could begin as soon as a federal vaccine advisory committee issues recommendations for using the two-dose vaccine in 12- to 15-year-olds, expected Wednesday.

Vaccinating children of all ages will be critical to a return to normalcy. Most COVID-19 vaccines rolling out worldwide have been authorized for adults. Pfizer’s vaccine is being used in multiple countries for teens as young as 16, and Canada recently became the first to expand use to 12 and up. Parents, school administrators and public health officials elsewhere are anxiously awaiting the shot to become available to more kids.

“This is a watershed moment in our ability to fight back the COVID-19 pandemic,” Dr. Bill Gruber, a Pfizer senior vice president who’s also a pediatrician, told The Associated Press.

The Food and Drug Administration declared the Pfizer vaccine is safe and offers strong protection for younger teens based on testing of more than 2,000 U.S. volunteers ages 12 to 15. The study found no cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated adolescents compared to 18 among kids given dummy shots. More intriguing, researchers found the kids developed higher levels of virus-fighting antibodies than earlier studies measured in young adults.

The younger teens received the same vaccine dosage as adults and had the same side effects, mostly sore arms and flu-like fever, chills or aches that signal a revved-up immune system, especially after the second dose.

Pfizer’s testing in adolescents “met our rigorous standards,” said FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks. “Having a vaccine authorized for a younger population is a critical step in continuing to lessen the immense public health burden caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech recently requested similar authorization in the European Union, with other countries to follow.

The latest news is welcome for U.S. families struggling to decide what activities are safe to resume when only the youngest family members remain unvaccinated.

“I can’t feel totally comfortable because my boys aren’t vaccinated,” said Carrie Vittitoe, a substitute teacher and freelance writer in Louisville, Kentucky, who is fully vaccinated as are her husband and 17-year-old daughter.

The FDA decision means her 13-year-old son soon could be eligible, leaving only her 11-year-old son who would be unvaccinated. The family hasn’t yet resumed going to church, and summer vacation will be a road trip so they don’t have to get on a plane.

“We can’t really go back to normal because two-fifths of our family don’t have protection,” Vittitoe said.

Pfizer isn’t the only company seeking to lower the age limit for its vaccine. Moderna recently said preliminary results from its study in 12- to 17-year-olds show strong protection and no serious side effects. Another U.S. company, Novavax, has a COVID-19 vaccine in late-stage development and just began a study in 12- to 17-year-olds as well.

Next up is testing whether the vaccine works for even younger children. Both Pfizer and Moderna have begun U.S. studies in children ages 6 months to 11 years. Those studies explore whether babies, preschoolers and elementary-age kids will need different doses than teens and adults. Gruber said Pfizer expects its first results sometime in the fall.

Outside of the U.S., AstraZeneca is studying its vaccine among 6- to 17-year-olds in Britain. And in China, Sinovac recently announced it has submitted preliminary data to Chinese regulators showing its vaccine is safe in children as young as 3.

Children are far less likely than adults to get seriously ill from COVID-19 yet they still have been hard-hit by the pandemic. They represent nearly 14% of the nation’s coronavirus cases. At least 296 have died from COVID-19 in the U.S. alone and more than 15,000 have been hospitalized, according to a tally by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

That’s not counting the toll of family members becoming ill or dying — or the disruption to school, sports and other activities so crucial to children’s overall well-being.

“Children right now are struggling,” Gruber said. Plus, “we need as many people in the country who have the potential to transmit the virus to be protected.”

Experts say children must get the shots if the country is to vaccinate the 70% to 85% of the population necessary to reach what’s called herd immunity.

In the meantime, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says unvaccinated people — including children — should continue taking precautions such as wearing masks indoors and keeping their distance from other unvaccinated people outside of their households.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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Playing the White Sox “if you had told me” game can last longer than a game of Monopoly.

It might start with “if you told me a year ago Tony La Russa would be the manager” and just keep going.

And continue with “if Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert would be out for most or all of the season” and “if Carlos Rodon was the best left-hander in baseball his first five starts.”

No one saw a lot of things we’re seeing from the 2021 Sox, a team that was third in the majors in homers in 2020 and 28^th this season but still leading the American League Central and leading the majors in run differential (+53).

Lots of unforeseen things have unfolded, and through them all, La Russa managed to have the Sox enjoying an off day Monday in first place. There are 130 games left, but the 32 played offers a template of what they might look like from here on out.

It wasn’t what we thought they’d look like, not when Leury Garcia is playing center field in a 9-3 victory to complete a series sweep in Kansas City, flanked by Andrew Vaughn and Danny Mendick in the corners. It wasn’t what general manager Rick Hahn had in mind in this the first year he expected to field a World Series contender, but that’s what injuries do.

With Rodon showing the way, the Sox have the best starting rotation in baseball right now, with Micahel Kopech building up his endurance to start when needed. The way the rotation is going now, Kopech (1.61, ERA in nine appearances including two starts) will have to settle for spot starts — that’s how good it is. The bullpen, expected by many to be the Sox’ greatest strength, is still taking shape with roles being sorted out.

But the offense as currently modeled is something no one saw coming. Buoyed by Yermin Mercedes’ Rookie of the Month explosion, a significant improvement in team walks taken and strikeouts given and an on-base percentage ranking second in the majors, the Sox are second in baseball with 5.12 runs per game, even though their hard-contact rate ranks 19^th.

It’s a hit-and-miss, up-and-down offense, demonstrated by run totals in the last 14 games: 9, 2, 8, 2, 3, 11, 3, 7, 0, 9, 0, 3, 9, 9.

Mendick, a utility infielder by trade, had the only Sox homer of the three-game sweep. But the Sox scored 21 runs.

“If we do what we did tonight, we’re going to score a lot of runs,” La Russa said Saturday. “The biggest mistake now is always trying to hit home runs and not just getting the ball to the barrel. If we start doing that we’ll go backward.”

La Russa said the homers will come when the weather warms up.

“As long as we make great contact, our offense is in great shape,” he said.

It wouldn’t hurt if Vaughn, who is finding some groove with a .319 average and five doubles in his last 14 games, would show more pop. He hasn’t homered after hitting six in a small sample size of 55 minor league games, none above Class A.

And it wouldn’t hurt if catcher Yasmani Grandal, who has walked 27 times, would show more power. Grandal’s 109 home runs since 2016 rank second among all catchers, but they’re slow to come this season — he has two.

While waiting for the long ball, the Sox will rely on putting the ball in play, getting on base and hitting well with two strikes. Nick Madrigal (.333), Mendick (.316) and Mercedes (.271) ranked first, fourth and ninth, respectively, in average with two strikes.

La Russa knows he can’t sit back and wait for the three-run homer. The Sox will have to manufacture runs.

“Absolutely, I think you have to,” he said after Robert went down. “You just play with what you’ve got.

“Small ball is really important in close games against really good pitching. It’s also, if the lineup fits small ball, you play small ball.”

White Sox offense in majors through Sunday:

Runs 4^th, 164

Hits 7^th, 272

Home runs 28^th, 27

Strikeouts 22^nd, 282

Walks 9^th, 123

On-base percentage 2^nd, .339

Average 4^th, .255

Slugging 15^th, .391

OPS 8^th, .729

TWINS AT SOX

Tuesday: Dylan Cease (2-0, 2.37) vs. Kenta Maeda (2-2, 5.02) 7:10 p.m., NBCSCH, 1000-AM

Wednesday: Dallas Keuchel (1-1, 3.79) vs. J.A. Happ (2-0, 1.91), 7:10 p.m., NBCSCH, 1000-AM

Thursday: Carlos Rodon (5-0, 0.58) vs. Michael Pineda (2-1, 2.43), 1:10 p.m., NBCSCH, 1000-AM

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JERUSALEM — Hamas militants fired dozens of rockets into Israel on Monday, including a barrage that set off air raid sirens as far away as Jerusalem, after hundreds of Palestinians were hurt in clashes with Israeli police at a flashpoint religious site in the contested holy city.

The rocket fire drew heavy Israeli retaliation in the Gaza Strip. Health officials said at least 20 people, including nine children, were killed in fighting, making it one of the bloodiest days of battle between the bitter enemies in several years.

The fighting escalated already heightened tensions throughout the region following weeks of confrontations between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters in Jerusalem. Those confrontations, focused around a disputed hilltop compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, have threatened to spark a wider conflict.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of crossing a “red line” with the rocket attack on Jerusalem, some 60 miles north of Gaza, and promised a tough response.

“Whoever attacks us will pay a heavy price,” he said, warning that the fighting could “continue for some time.”

In Washington, State Department spokesman Ned Price condemned “in the strongest terms” the rocket fire on Israel and called on all sides to calm the situation.

“More broadly, we’re deeply concerned about the situation in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, including violent confrontations in Jerusalem,” he said.

A diplomatic official said that the United Nations, Egypt and Qatar, which frequently mediate between Israel and Hamas, were all trying to halt the fighting. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue with the media.

The Israeli military said well over 50 rockets were fired into Israel throughout the evening, most of them aimed at southern Israeli towns near the border.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman, said six rockets were aimed at Jerusalem in what was believed to be the first rocket attack on the city since a 2014 war.

Shortly after the sirens sounded, explosions could be heard in Jerusalem. One rocket fell on the western outskirts of the city, lightly damaging a home and causing a brush fire. The Israeli army said one rocket was intercepted and the others fell in open areas.

Israel was responding with airstrikes on Hamas targets throughout Gaza. The army said rocket launchers and eight militants had been targeted.

In Gaza, health officials reported a total of 20 deaths, including nine children.

It did not provide a breakdown, but at least seven members of a family, including three children, were killed in a blast in the northern town of Beit Hanoun. It was not immediately clear if the blast was caused by an airstrike or errant rocket.

Ashraf al-Masri, a member of the family, said there was an explosion outside the house.

“We don’t know where it came from,” he said. “We are trying to get the children for burial but the situation is difficult in Beit Hanoun and we are afraid to leave our houses.”

The Israeli army said an Israeli civilian in the country’s south suffered mild injuries when a vehicle was struck by an anti-tank missile from Gaza.

Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas’ military wing, said the attack on Jerusalem was a response to what he called Israeli “crimes and aggression” in the city. “This is a message the enemy has to understand well,” he said.

He threatened more attacks if Israeli forces re-enter the sacred Al-Aqsa Mosque compound or carry out planned evictions of Palestinian families from an east Jerusalem neighborhood.

Earlier, Israeli police firing tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets clashed with stone-throwing Palestinians at the iconic compound, which is Islam’s third-holiest site and considered Judaism’s holiest. Tensions at the site have been the trigger for prolonged bouts of violence in the past, including the last Palestinian intifada, or uprising.

More than a dozen tear gas canisters and stun grenades landed in the mosque as police and protesters faced off inside the walled compound that surrounds it, said an Associated Press photographer at the scene. Smoke rose in front of the mosque and the golden-domed shrine on the site, and rocks littered the nearby plaza. Inside one area of the compound, shoes and debris lay scattered over ornate carpets.

More than 300 Palestinians were hurt, including 228 who went to hospitals and clinics for treatment, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. Police said 21 officers were hurt, including three who were hospitalized. Israeli paramedics said seven Israeli civilians were also hurt.

In an apparent attempt to avoid further confrontation, Israeli authorities changed the planned route of a march by ultra-nationalist Jews through the Muslim Quarter of the Old City to mark Jerusalem Day, which celebrates Israel’s capture of east Jerusalem.

Monday’s confrontation was the latest after weeks of almost nightly clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops in the Old City of Jerusalem, the emotional center of their conflict, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The month tends to be a time of heightened religious sensitivities.

Most recently, the tensions have been fueled by the planned eviction of dozens of Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of east Jerusalem, where Israeli settlers have waged a lengthy legal battle to take over properties.

Israel’s Supreme Court postponed a key ruling Monday in the case, citing the “circumstances.”

Over the past few days, hundreds of Palestinians and several dozen police officers have been hurt in clashes in and around the Old City, including the sacred compound, which is known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.

The tensions in Jerusalem have threatened to reverberate throughout the region and come at a crucial point in Israel’s political crisis after Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition last week. His opponents are now working to build an alternate government.

Before Monday’s rocket attack on Jerusalem, Palestinian militants had fired several barrages of rockets into southern Israel. Protesters allied with Hamas have launched dozens of incendiary balloons into Israel, setting off fires across the southern part of the country.

Hamas, an Islamic militant group that seeks Israel’s destruction, has fought three wars with Israel since it seized power in Gaza in 2007. The group possesses a vast arsenal of missiles and rockets capable of striking virtually anywhere in Israel.

Israel’s actions in Jerusalem have come under growing international criticism.

The U.N. Security Council scheduled closed consultations on the situation Monday. The United States and European Union have expressed deep concern over the unrest in Jerusalem, urging Israel to calm the situation and not carry out the planned evictions. Arab allies of Israel, along with Turkey, also have condemned Israel’s actions.

Netanyahu pushed back against the criticism Monday, saying Israel is determined to ensure the rights of worship for all and that this “requires from time to time stand up and stand strong as Israeli police and our security forces are doing now.”

In the 1967 Mideast war in which Israel captured east Jerusalem, it also took the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It later annexed east Jerusalem and considers the entire city its capital. The Palestinians seek all three areas for a future state, with east Jerusalem as their capital.

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Akram reported from Gaza City, Gaza Strip. Associated Press Writer Matthew Lee in Washington also contributed to this report.

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WASHINGTON — Hit by a cyberattack, the operator of a major U.S. fuel pipeline said Monday it hopes to have services mostly restored by the end of the week as the FBI and administration officials identified the culprits as a gang of criminal hackers.

Colonial Pipeline, which delivers about 45% of the fuel consumed on the East Coast, halted operations last week after revealing a ransomware attack that it said had affected some of its systems. On Monday, U.S. officials sought to soothe concerns about price spikes or damage to the economy by stressing that the fuel supply had so far not been disrupted, and the company said it was working toward “substantially restoring operational service” by the weekend.

Nonetheless, the attack underscored the vulnerabilities of the nation’s energy sector and other critical industries whose infrastructure is largely privately owned. Ransomware attacks are typically carried out by criminal hackers who scramble data, paralyzing victim networks, and demand large payments to decrypt it.

The Colonial attack was a potent reminder of the real-world implications of the burgeoning threat. Even as the Biden administration works to confront organized hacking campaigns sponsored by foreign governments, it must still contend with difficult-to-prevent attacks from cybercriminals.

“We need to invest to safeguard our critical infrastructure,” President Joe Biden said Monday.

The attack came as the administration, still grappling with its response to massive breaches by Russia of federal agencies and private corporations, works on an executive order aimed at bolstering cybersecurity defenses. The Justice Department, meanwhile, has formed a ransomware task force designed for situations just like Colonial Pipeline, and the Energy Department on April 20 announced a 100-day initiative focused on protecting energy infrastructure from cyber threats. Similar actions are planned for other critical industries.

Despite that, the challenge facing the government and the private sector remains immense.

In this case, the FBI moved with unusual speed to pinpoint blame, saying the criminal syndicate whose ransomware was used in the attack is named DarkSide. The group’s members are Russian speakers, and the syndicate’s malware is coded not to attack networks using Russian-language keyboards.

Anne Neuberger, the White House deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology, said at a briefing that the group emerged just months ago. She said the group’s business model is to demand ransom payments from victims and then split the proceeds, relying on what she said was a “new and very troubling variant.”

She declined to say if Colonial Pipeline had paid any ransom, and the company has not given any indication of that one way or the other. Though the FBI has historically discouraged victims from making payments for fear of promoting additional attacks, she acknowledged “the very difficult” situation that victims face and said the administration needs to look “thoughtfully at this area” of how best to deter ransomware.

The U.S. sanctioned the Kremlin last month for a hack of federal government agencies that officials have linked to a military intelligence unit and described as an intelligence-gathering operation. In this case, though, the hackers are not known to be working at the behest of any foreign government.

The group posted a statement on its dark web site describing itself as apolitical. “Our goal is to make money, and not creating problems for society,” DarkSide said.

Asked Monday whether Russia was involved, Biden said, “”I’m going to be meeting with President (Vladimir) Putin, and so far there is no evidence based on, from our intelligence people, that Russia is involved, although there is evidence that the actors, ransomware, is in Russia.

“They have some responsibility to deal with this,” he added.

U.S. officials have sought to head off anxieties about the prospect of a lingering economic impact and disruption to the fuel supply, especially given Colonial Pipeline’s key role in transporting gasoline, jet fuel, diesel and other petroleum products through 10 states between Texas and New Jersey.

Colonial is in the process of restarting portions of its network. It said Monday that it was evaluating the product inventory in storage tanks at its facilities. Administration officials stressed that the company proactively took some of its systems offline, as opposed to hackers doing it, and that its operating systems were spared.

In response to the attack, the administration loosened regulations for the transport of petroleum products on highways as part of an “all-hands-on-deck” effort to avoid disruptions in the fuel supply.

“The time of the outage is now approaching critical levels and if it continues to remain down we do expect an increase in East Coast gasoline and diesel prices,” said Debnil Chowdhury, IHS Markit Executive Director. The last time there was an outage of this magnitude was in 2016, he said, when gas prices rose 15 to 20 cents per gallon. But the Northeast had significantly more local refining capacity at that time, potentially intensifying any impact.

If the pipeline outage persists, the industry may want to turn to barges to transport fuel, but that could require a waiver of the Jones Act, a U.S. maritime law that requires products shipped between U.S. ports to be moved by American-flagged ships.

The pipeline utilizes both common and custom technology systems, which could complicate efforts to bring the entire network back online, according to analysts at Third Bridge.

Gasoline futures ticked higher Monday. Futures for crude and fuel, prices that traders pay for contracts for delivery in the future, typically begin to rise anyway each year as the driving season approaches. The price you pay at the pump tends to follow.

The average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline has jumped 6 cents over the past two weeks, to $3.02 per gallon, which is $1.05 higher than a year ago. The year-ago numbers are skewed somewhat because the nation was going into lockdown due to the pandemic.

The attack on the Colonial Pipeline could exacerbate the upward pressure on prices if it is unresolved for a period of time.

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STOWE, Vt. — Eduardo Rovetto is hoping the state of Vermont’s reinstated requirement that people who are collecting unemployment benefits must seek work to qualify will help him hire enough staff for his restaurant in the resort town of Stowe.

After more than a year of coronavirus restrictions on his business, Piecasso Pizzeria & Lounge, he’s expecting a breakout summer tourism season, but like employers across the country he’s worried he won’t have enough workers.

“We’ve been getting many excuses as to why not to return,” said Rovetto, who is offering a signing bonus of up to $600 to try to add 15 to 20 employees who agree to stay through the middle of October. “Obviously, it was a legitimate one with COVID, but, you know, I think that’s getting used less and less now. The vaccines are free, they are out there for anyone.”

Many employers are telling similar stories. Fourteen months after COVID-19 put hundreds of thousands of people out of work, the U.S. economy is rebounding and employers are desperate for workers.

The challenge was highlighted Friday when employers nationwide added 266,000 jobs, far fewer than expected, and businesses reported they couldn’t find people to fill the openings they have to keep up with the rapidly strengthening economic rebound.

To encourage people to return to work, more states are making it harder for people to stay on unemployment. Many blame the easy benefits that followed the pandemic, including what is now a $300 a week supplemental federal payment on top of state benefits. The argument is that people make more money staying home than going back to work.

Several states have begun requiring those receiving unemployment benefits to show they are actively searching for work, and a few will stop providing the additional federal supplement.

It’s not just the hospitality sector that is scrambling to fill positions. Alene Candles, based in Milford, New Hampshire, is looking to fill 1,500 positions for its facility there and another in New Albany, Ohio, to meet demand for the holiday season. Company representatives will be participating in a number of virtual job fairs this month.

“We have had more than 100 positions open since the start of the year, and just recently we increased sign-on bonuses to $1,200 for hourly positions — in-part because we are competing with an entity that can print its own money — the federal government — and its $300 per week additional unemployment benefit,” said CEO Rod Harl. “I would love to welcome those searching for work to join our team.”

On Monday, the state of New Hampshire reopened its job centers for the first time since the pandemic hit to help people looking for work, but only a handful showed up in the first few hours at the largest one in Manchester.

Labor experts say the shortage is not just about the $300 payment. Some unemployed people also have been reluctant to look for work because they fear catching the virus. Others have found new occupations rather than return to their old jobs. And many women, especially working mothers, have had to leave the workforce to care for children.

The details and the timing of the state-led efforts to get people back to work differ, but they are coming from states led by both Republicans and Democrats.

In addition to Vermont, states reinstating the work-search requirement include Arizona, Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and South Carolina.

“As President Reagan said, the best social program is a job,” Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey said when announcing the resumption of the work-search requirement. “This statement rings true today. Unemployment benefits are still available to Arizonans who need them, but now that plenty of jobs are available, those receiving the benefits should be actively looking for work.”

Montana, South Carolina and Arkansas are planning to stop accepting the $300 benefit.

In announcing last week that beginning June 27 unemployed workers will no longer receive the $300 benefit, Montana Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte said it was “doing more harm than good.”

Rachel Mata, an area manager for a Fayetteville, North Carolina-based staffing company, said it’s been increasingly difficult to find people for positions since the passage of the latest federal COVID-19 relief bill.

“We get candidates who will mention, ‘Hey, you know, why would I go to work when I get paid more on unemployment to sit at home?'” said Mata.

At a recent job fair, only one candidate showed up, said Mata, whose company, Mega Force Staffing Group Inc., mainly focuses on manufacturing jobs. In other cases, candidates have gone through the staffing company’s onboarding process, only to not show up on their start date.

In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the heart of the state’s $20 billion tourism industry, restaurants and resorts are scrambling for summer help. Angelo Verdone, an assistant general manager at Seaside Resorts, said hotels are so short-staffed that managers are working double duty, cleaning rooms and doing maintenance. He is working some front desk shifts.

Some applicants have responded to ads but failed to attend the interviews; others have gotten offers but did not show up to the job itself.

Though the company has offered a $500 sign-on bonus for its $11-an-hour housekeeping role, it got no takers.

“It’s not like they’re bad jobs,” Verdone said. “Most years, people are beating down the front door for the front desk jobs.”

William Spriggs, an economist at Howard University and the chief economist for the AFL-CIO, said the issue isn’t as simple as the unemployed being able to receive more benefits. He says the economy has changed.

He said he didn’t think the job-search requirement is bad, but it won’t solve the labor shortage.

“Matching workers to employers isn’t as easy as people think, which is what some of these employers are finding out,” Spriggs said.

There might be a lot of jobs available, but in some cases they don’t fit for the unemployed with specialized work skills.

“I am a master technician with 30 years experience. You think I am going to go work in a pet store?” said Harry Chaikin, an out-of-work stagehand from Burlington, Vermont, who lost his job last year when the theater where he works stopped offering performances.

Chaikin says he is eager to return to work when theaters resume normal performances. He’s receiving unemployment, including the $300 supplemental benefit, but he’s still months behind in his rent.

“The sense of optimism I feel is that human nature being what it is, I know that sooner or later people are going to gather again in big groups to be entertained, and when that happens I will have work,” he said.

And people are still losing their jobs.

Crystal Dvorak, 41, an audiologist in Billings, Montana, with two teenage daughters, weathered a furlough early in the pandemic, dipping deep into her savings, only to find out last month that she would lose her job when the clinic where she worked for nearly nine years had been sold.

Gianforte announced on June 27 the $300 benefit would end, Dvorak’s second day of unemployment.

“It had me in tears,” she said.

After learning that unemployment benefits would be discontinued and replaced with a return-to-work, one-time bonus of $1,200, Dvorak began applying for waitressing jobs, even though it could complicate her search.

“Knowing that change is coming, I’m having to be open to other positions,” she said. “I have shown interest in more jobs in the last week than I have applied for my entire 25 years of working.”

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Associated Press writers Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia, Iris Samuels in Helena, Montana, Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, Michelle Liu in Columbia, South Carolina, and statehouse reporters across the country contributed.

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