Elizabeth Pelham,Dan Johnson
ReutersHamas said it had launched a “massive” rocket attack on the Tel Aviv region in central Israel.
The Israeli military said at least eight rockets were fired from the Rafah area in southern Gaza, adding that several were intercepted. No injuries were reported.
The attack was Hamas’ first in central Israel in nearly four months and came as Israel carried out Military action was taken in Rafah in defiance of the UN Supreme Court ruling.
It also comes ahead of further ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, which are expected to resume next week.
With this attack, Hamas may be trying to flex its muscles ahead of negotiations or try to derail them.
Tel Aviv, Israel’s economic hub, has returned to a degree of normality since it was last attacked in January.
But air raid sirens blaring in cities including Tel Aviv, Herzliya and Petah Tikva were another reminder of the threat Hamas poses to people across Israel.
Video released by Israeli media appeared to show rocket damage to buildings in the central towns of Herzliya and Kfar Saba.
Getty ImagesHamas’s military wing, the Izzedin al-Qassam Brigades, said the rocket attack was in response to “the massacre of civilians”.
Hamas did not confirm that the attack was launched from Rafah, where fighting was reported near a Kuwaiti hospital.
Palestinian media said that an Israeli airstrike on a house in the center of Rafah killed at least one person and injured many others.
Israel began its offensive on the southern city of Gaza about three weeks ago, vowing to destroy Hamas camps there.
The United Nations says more than 800,000 Palestinians have fled the southern city. Some 1.5 million people are fleeing fighting elsewhere in Gaza.
Israel’s military operation in Gaza began on October 7 after Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking another 252 people back to Gaza as hostages.
Since then, at least 35,800 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to the Gaza health ministry, which is run by Hamas.
