Hamas claims to have launched a “large” rocket attack on the Tel Aviv area in central Israel, with several rockets intercepted by Israeli Air Defence systems, according to the Israeli military.
Later, Palestinian health and civilian officials reported that dozens of Palestinians were killed and injured in an Israeli strike on a location in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza, where displaced people were taking shelter.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society noted that many of the casualties were in tents at the Tal al-Sultan camp, and the death toll is expected to rise. An official from the Hamas-run media office reported that 30 people had been killed.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed in a statement that they had targeted “a Hamas compound in Rafah” where “significant Hamas terrorists were operating.”
They acknowledged reports of civilian casualties due to a fire ignited by the strike and stated that the incident is “under review.”
Hamas launched a rocket attack on Tel Aviv, the first in nearly four months, during an ongoing Israeli military operation in Rafah that defies a UN ruling.
Up to eight rockets were fired, showcasing the continuing threat Hamas poses, though no injuries were reported.
This attack highlights the challenges the Israeli army faces as it advances further into southern Gaza to eliminate Hamas from what it calls its “last major stronghold.”
The rocket fire came just before planned ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, set to resume next week.
Hamas’ military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, claimed the attack was in response to “the massacre of civilians.”
By briefly unsettling the recent peace in Tel Aviv, Israel’s economic center, Hamas might be attempting to demonstrate its power ahead of the talks or to disrupt them.
Air raid sirens also sounded in cities such as Herzliya and Petah Tikva. The IDF reported that its Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepted three of the eight rockets.
Most of the rockets landed in open areas, but photos published by Israeli media showed minor shrapnel damage to a home in Herzliya, where an elderly woman and her caretaker lived. Police reported two people with light injuries.
In Kfar Saba, north of Tel Aviv, a rocket created a large crater in a field. Later on Sunday, sirens also sounded in several border villages in the south adjacent to Gaza, including some areas where residents have returned since the Hamas attack on October 7.
Hamas did not confirm that the rockets were launched from Rafah, where fighting has been reported near the Kuwaiti Hospital.
Despite intense international concern, Israel began its offensive in southern Gaza about three weeks ago, aiming to destroy the last Hamas battalions there.
The recent rocket attacks underscore Hamas’s military capabilities after seven months of an Israeli offensive intended to eliminate the group.
War cabinet minister Benny Gantz said the rocket launches demonstrated the necessity of continuing the military assault.
The UN reports that over 800,000 Palestinians have fled Rafah, a city on Gaza’s southern edge. About 1.5 million had been sheltering there from the fighting elsewhere in Gaza.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society noted that the area hit by the IDF airstrike had been designated for displaced people.
However, aid groups assert that nowhere in Gaza is safe for the territory’s estimated two million civilians.
They report that some Israeli strikes have hit civilians in areas previously designated by the IDF as “humanitarian zones”.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza began after Hamas gunmen attacked Israel on October 7, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking 252 others back to Gaza as hostages. Since then, nearly 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
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