In a significant escalation of the ongoing conflict, Hamas fired two rockets at Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial hub, on Tuesday. This attack came as a direct response to Israeli airstrikes in Gaza that resulted in the deaths of at least 19 Palestinians. Notably, this marked the first time since May that Hamas has claimed responsibility for launching rockets at Tel Aviv.
The Israeli military confirmed that one of the rockets fell into the sea, while the other failed to reach Israeli territory. However, the airstrikes in Gaza had a devastating impact, claiming the lives of 19 Palestinians, including a mother and her four-day-old twin babies. Six people were killed in an airstrike in Deir Al-Balah, while seven others perished in a strike on a house in the nearby Al-Bureij camp.
Further airstrikes in the central Gaza Strip and Rafah resulted in the deaths of four Palestinians, while two were killed in a strike on a house in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City. The Israeli military, along with Islamic Jihad and Hamas, reported ongoing fighting in several areas of Gaza.
The Israeli military stated that it had killed Palestinian gunmen and dismantled military structures in Khan Younis, located weapons and explosives in Rafah, and struck rocket launchers and sniper posts in central Gaza. Meanwhile, the US continues to push for ceasefire talks, scheduled for Thursday, with an agreement still deemed possible.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to travel to Qatar, Egypt, and Israel on Tuesday for discussions on the matter. The Israeli government has confirmed it will send a delegation to Thursday’s talks to finalize the details of the agreement proposal. However, Hamas has emphasized its demand for the implementation of a workable plan, presented by US President Joe Biden in May, rather than further negotiations.
In response to the ongoing crisis, a Hamas official, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation, stated, “Our statement the other day was clear: what is needed is the implementation, not more negotiation.”
This escalation in violence began on October 7, when Hamas-led fighters stormed into Israel, resulting in the deaths of 1,200 people and the taking of around 250 hostages back to Gaza. Since then, the Israeli offensive in Gaza has claimed the lives of nearly 40,000 Palestinians, leaving much of the enclave in ruins and displacing most of the population.
