Israel-Hamas war: Hamas' military wing Al-Qassam Brigades on Tuesday said it targeted the city of Tel Aviv in Israel and its suburbs with two 'M90' rockets, marking a major escalation in the boiling tensions in the Middle East. Explosions were heard in Tel Aviv but there were no reports of casualties, Israeli media reported.
"We have bombed the city of Tel Aviv and its suburbs with two 'M90' missiles in response to the Zionist massacres against civilians and the deliberate displacement of our people," said Hamas in a statement. There were no reports of casualties in Israel. Two rockets had been fired from Gaza, the Israeli military said, one of which fell into the sea and the other had not reached Israeli territory.
This came after Israeli airstrikes killed 19 Palestinians in the central and southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, medics said. One strike killed six people in Deir Al-Balah, including a mother and her twin four-day-old babies, while seven other Palestinians were killed in a strike on a house in the nearby Al-Bureij camp. Four people were killed in two separate strikes on the Al-Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip and Rafah in the south.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza was launched in response to Hamas's deadly October 7 attack on southern Israel, which left 1,200 Israelis dead and over 250 hostages captured. According to the Palestinian health ministry, nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the Israeli assault, though Israel asserts that a third of the fatalities were Hamas fighters. Israel has lost 329 lives in the conflict.
Hamas on ceasefire negotiations
Hamas has stuck to its demand that Gaza truce talks focus on a deal already discussed with Israel and mediators rather than starting anew, according to an official after the Tuesday strike. The US said on Monday that it expected peace talks slated for Thursday to go ahead as planned, and that a ceasefire agreement was still possible.
"Our statement the other day was clear: what is needed is the implementation, not more negotiation," said the Hamas official, who declined to be named owing to the sensitivity of the issue. A ceasefire deal would aim to end fighting in Gaza and ensure the release of Israeli hostages held in the enclave in return for many Palestinians jailed by Israel.
Hamas wants a deal to end the war while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says it can only end when Hamas is eradicated. These negotiations between the US, Qatar and Egypt have gone on for months with no end in sight, owing to crucial differences between Israel and Hamas.
Iran's anticipated attack on Israel
Meanwhile, Iran has vowed a severe response to Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh's killing, which took place as he visited Tehran late last month and which it blamed on Israel. Three Iranian officials told Reuters that only a ceasefire deal in Gaza stemming from hoped-for talks this week would hold Iran back from direct retaliation.
One of the sources, a senior Iranian security official, said Iran, along with allies such as Hezbollah, would launch a direct attack if the Gaza talks fail or it perceives Israel is dragging out negotiations. The sources did not say how long Iran would allow for talks to progress before responding. Iran has been involved in intense dialogue with Western countries and the United States in recent days on ways to calibrate retaliation, the sources said.
(with Reuters inputs)
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