Hamas Launches Rockets In Tel Aviv, Israel for the first time in Several Months

The last attack by Hamas on Tel Aviv itself was in October, but the Islamist group said it had fired a rocket on the city on Sunday, which set off sirens across the area. A mortar attack was declared by the Israeli military when eight missiles were fired from Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where the Israeli forces continued the ground incursion, defying the ICJ’s order to stop the operations. 

 Israel’s local media reported that alarms were sounded in some 30 regions centralising Israel, including Tel Aviv. There are accounts that while most of the Palestinian rockets were shot down by the Iron Dome system, some resulted in the injury of a few people. The Qassam brigades, which is the military wing of Hamas, announced through their Telegram channel that the rockets fired were a response to what was described as ” Zionist massacres against civilians. 

 Police barbed in the Hatikal and Sharon areas near Herzliya, which is one of the areas that was targeted by the attack, proving that the ongoing conflict is very much actual and is affecting the civilian populace. 

 The Israeli army seeks to take out several formations of Hamas in Rafah and free hostages presumed to be held in the area. This military action has worsened the situation of civilians and attracted negative attention from the international community. In Rafah, the Israeli attacks claimed at least five Palestinians’ lives Sunday, according to local medical services. 

 Still, there has not been an attempt at a full-scale ground assault on Rafah. Israeli tanks have shelled other parts of the city, particularly around the main southern point of entry into Egypt. 

Hani Mahmoud from Al Jazeera was able to interview people in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza Strip, and even she wondered whether this operation in Rafah made a difference. He pointed to the rockets fired from Rafah, proving that unlike what the Israelis tried to portray, the area was not free of Hamas combatants. 

 According to senior political Israeli commentator Akiva Eldar, in political terms, the rocket attack might be an added advantage to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This is how Eldar claimed that Netanyahu might use this attack to insist on an operation in Rafah, even in defiance of the ICJ, by painting the picture of Israel as a state under attack that requires protection from Hamas. 

 The conflict has led to considerable fatalities on the side of the aggressor and the defender. Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip assume that people have died in this conflict, which started from December 2008 up to the present time, 35,984 to be precise. The Israeli operation was launched after the Cross Attack carried out by Hamas that targeted the communities in southern Israel on the 7th of October, killed over 1,139 Israelis, and captured more than 250 hostages, according to the Reports. 

 Currently, the Israeli- Hamas conflict remains unabated, and recent rocket attacks that targeted Tel Aviv reveal the dangers and volatility of the area. While the countries are gearing up for future battles if necessary, the Human suffering and political impact do not cease and are immensely devastating.