Hamas fired rockets at the Tel Aviv area in Israel for the first time in nearly four months on Sunday, according to reports.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage in what was apparently the first long-range rocket attack from Gaza since January, The Associated Press reported.
The Israeli military said eight projectiles had crossed into its territory after being launched from the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where Israeli forces launched an incursion earlier this month.
Israel’s war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’ October 7 attack, in which militants killed some 1,200 people and seized around 250 hostages. About half were released during a temporary ceasefire last year.
Israel’s massive air, sea and ground offensive has killed nearly 36,000 Palestinians, the AP reports, citing Gaza’s Health Ministry. The bodies of 81 people killed by Israeli strikes were brought to hospitals over the past 24 hours, the ministry said.
The Israeli military said that “a number” of the projectiles were intercepted by its Iron Dome system, which specializes in shooting down short-range rockets.
Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, claimed credit for launching a “big” missile attack on Tel Aviv on its Telegram channel on Sunday. The statement said the attack was in response to “Zionist massacres against civilians.”
Criticism of Israel’s conduct in the war has been growing, especially since it turned its attention to Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have sought refuge after fleeing other parts of Gaza.
The International Court of Justice on Friday ordered Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah. The court also ordered Israel to keep the Rafah crossing open to allow humanitarian aid in, and said Israel must give war crimes investigators access to Gaza.
The ruling comes after South Africa brought a case against Israel under the U.N.’s Genocide Convention, alleging that Israel’s military action in Gaza amounted to a systematic killing of Palestinians because of their ethnicity. Israel, along with the U.S., has strongly denied that the military operation in Gaza is a genocide.
