By Mohammad Sio
ISTANBUL (AA) – Palestinian resistance group Hamas claimed rocket attacks on Tel Aviv on Tuesday in response to Israel’s ongoing war on the Gaza Strip.
The attack was the first by Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, on the central Israeli city since May 26.
“We have struck Tel Aviv and its suburbs with two M90 rockets in retaliation for the Zionist massacres against civilians and the deliberate displacement of our people in Gaza,” the Qassam Brigades said in a statement.
A strong explosion was heard in Tel Aviv and its surrounding areas, Israeli Channel 12 said.
The Israeli army, however, said one rocket landed in the sea off the coast of central Israel, while the second failed to cross the border and fell short inside Gaza.
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an attack last October by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
Nearly 40,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 92,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.
Over ten months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio