Hamas launches rocket attack on Tel Aviv area

Hamas launched a rocket attack in the Tel Aviv area of ​​central Israel for the first time in almost four months.

At least eight rockets were fired from the Rafah area in southern Gaza, the Israeli military said, adding that several were intercepted. No injuries were reported.

The Israeli army is carrying out a military operation in Rafah.

Rocket sirens sounded in other cities, including Herzliya and Petah Tikva.

Israeli media published images of missile fragments in the garden of a building in Herzliya. Other images appeared to show damage to a room in a house caused by shrapnel.

A different video showed a large crater apparently created by a rocket in an open area near the central city of Kfar Saba.

Israel’s ambulance service, Magen David Adom, said many people were being treated for acute anxiety.

Hamas’ military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, claimed credit for launching a “major” missile attack against Tel Aviv on its Telegram channel.

Tel Aviv, Israel’s economic center, is the country’s largest city.

The rocket attacks came as the Israeli army stepped up its assault on Rafah, despite a ruling by the International Court of Justice this week that it must immediately halt its offensive on Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office called the ICJ order “outrageous, morally repugnant and disgusting.”

Israel began its offensive in Gaza after gunmen from Hamas, the organization that governed the territory, attacked Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking another 252 back to Gaza as hostages.

At least 35,800 Palestinians have been killed in the war since then, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.