Hamas said it launched missiles at Tel Aviv on Sunday, prompting sirens to sound in the Israeli city for the first time in four months as the Palestinian Islamic terror group sought to show military strength despite Israel’s Gaza offensive.
The Israeli military said eight projectiles were identified crossing from the area of Rafah, the southern tip of the Gaza Strip, where Israel continued operations despite a ruling by the top U.N. court ordering it to stop attacking the city.
The Israeli military said a number of the projectiles were intercepted. Israeli emergency services said they had received no reports of casualties. In a statement on its Telegram channel, the Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades said the rockets were launched in response to “Zionist massacres against civilians.”
Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV said the rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip.
Israel says it wants to root out Hamas fighters holed up in Rafah (located about 100 kilometers, or 60 miles, south of Tel Aviv) and rescue hostages it says are being held in the area, but its assault has worsened the plight of civilians and caused an international outcry. Israeli strikes carried out on Saturday killed at least five Palestinians in Rafah, according to local medical services. Near Jabaliya, an Israeli airstrike killed 10 people and wounded others, according to Hamas-affiliated media.
Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz said the rockets fired from Rafah “prove that the [Israel Defense Forces] must operate in every place Hamas still operates from.”
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant held an operational assessment in Rafah, where he was briefed on “troops’ operations above and below the ground, as well as the deepening of operations in additional areas with the aim of dismantling Hamas battalions,” his office said in a statement.
Israeli tanks have probed around the city’s edges, near the main southern crossing point into Egypt, but have not yet entered the city in force.
Following the rocket salvo, Israel’s hardline public security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, who is not part of Israel’s war cabinet, urged the army to hit Rafah harder.
“Rafah! With full force!” he posted on X.
Nearly 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive, Hamas-controlled Gaza’s health ministry says. Israel launched the operation after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israeli communities on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Fighting also continued on Sunday in the northern Gaza area of Jabaliya, a heavily built-up area that saw weeks of intense combat earlier in the war. During one raid, the military said it found a weapons storage site with dozens of rocket parts and weapons located in a school.
It denied statements by Hamas that Palestinian fighters had abducted an Israeli soldier.
Truce talks
The Israeli military said a number of the projectiles were intercepted. Israeli emergency services said they had received no reports of casualties. In a statement on its Telegram channel, the Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades said the rockets were launched in response to “Zionist massacres against civilians.”
Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV said the rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip.
Israel says it wants to root out Hamas fighters holed up in Rafah (located about 100 kilometers, or 60 miles, south of Tel Aviv) and rescue hostages it says are being held in the area, but its assault has worsened the plight of civilians and caused an international outcry. Israeli strikes carried out on Saturday killed at least five Palestinians in Rafah, according to local medical services. Near Jabaliya, an Israeli airstrike killed 10 people and wounded others, according to Hamas-affiliated media.
Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz said the rockets fired from Rafah “prove that the [Israel Defense Forces] must operate in every place Hamas still operates from.”
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant held an operational assessment in Rafah, where he was briefed on “troops’ operations above and below the ground, as well as the deepening of operations in additional areas with the aim of dismantling Hamas battalions,” his office said in a statement.
Israeli tanks have probed around the city’s edges, near the main southern crossing point into Egypt, but have not yet entered the city in force.
Following the rocket salvo, Israel’s hardline public security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, who is not part of Israel’s war cabinet, urged the army to hit Rafah harder.
“Rafah! With full force!” he posted on X.
Nearly 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive, Hamas-controlled Gaza’s health ministry says. Israel launched the operation after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israeli communities on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Fighting also continued on Sunday in the northern Gaza area of Jabaliya, a heavily built-up area that saw weeks of intense combat earlier in the war. During one raid, the military said it found a weapons storage site with dozens of rocket parts and weapons located in a school.
It denied statements by Hamas that Palestinian fighters had abducted an Israeli soldier.
Truce talks
Efforts to agree on a halt to the fighting and return more than 100 hostages still held in Gaza have been blocked for weeks, but there were some signs of movement following meetings between Israeli and U.S. intelligence officials and the prime minister of Qatar.
An official with knowledge of the matter said a decision had been taken to resume the talks this week based on new proposals from Egyptian and Qatari mediators and with “active U.S. involvement.”
However, a Hamas official played down the report, telling Reuters: “It is not true.”
Izzat El-Reshiq, a senior Hamas official in exile, said the group had not received anything from the mediators on new dates for the resumption of talks, as had been reported by Israeli media.
Reshiq restated Hamas's demands, which include: “Ending the aggression completely and permanently in all of Gaza Strip, not only Rafah.”
While Israel is seeking the return of hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said the war will not end until Hamas is eliminated. TVP World's correspondent Diana Skaya is in Tel Aviv and she reported on the developments on the ground.
An official with knowledge of the matter said a decision had been taken to resume the talks this week based on new proposals from Egyptian and Qatari mediators and with “active U.S. involvement.”
However, a Hamas official played down the report, telling Reuters: “It is not true.”
Izzat El-Reshiq, a senior Hamas official in exile, said the group had not received anything from the mediators on new dates for the resumption of talks, as had been reported by Israeli media.
Reshiq restated Hamas's demands, which include: “Ending the aggression completely and permanently in all of Gaza Strip, not only Rafah.”
While Israel is seeking the return of hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said the war will not end until Hamas is eliminated. TVP World's correspondent Diana Skaya is in Tel Aviv and she reported on the developments on the ground.
Source: Reuters
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