Hamas missiles hit Tel Aviv

The attacks are for first time in nearly four months

May 27, 2024 00:00:00

People take cover as missiles from Israel's Iron Dome air defence system intercept rockets fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip near the city of Herzliya on Sunday — AFP

TEL AVIV, May 26 (BBC/Reuters): Hamas says it has launched a rocket attack towards the Tel Aviv area in central Israel for the first time in nearly four months.

At least eight rockets were launched from the Rafah area in southern Gaza and several were intercepted, the Israeli military says. No injuries have been reported. The Israeli army is carrying out a military operation in Rafah.

Rocket sirens were sounded in other cities and towns, including Herzliya and Petah Tikva. Israeli media have published footage of missile fragments in the garden of a building in Herzliya.

Another social media video shows a large crater apparently created by a falling rocket in an open area near the central town of Kfar Saba. Israel's ambulance service, Magen David Adom, says many people are being treated for acute anxiety.

On its Telegram channel, the Hamas's military wing, Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said it launched a "big missile" attack on Tel Aviv.

Hamas says it captured

Israeli soldiers in Gaza

A spokesman for Hamas' armed wing said on Sunday its fighters had captured Israeli soldiers during fighting in Jabalia in northern Gaza on Saturday, though the Israeli military denied the claim.

The Hamas armed wing spokesman did not say how many soldiers had been abducted and showed no proof of the claim.

"Our fighters lured a Zionist force into an ambush inside a tunnel ... The fighters withdrew after they left all members of the force dead, wounded, and captured," Abu Ubaida, the spokesman for Al Qassam Brigades, said in a recorded message broadcast by Al Jazeera early on Sunday.

The Israeli military on Sunday denied the claim by Hamas' armed wing. "The IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) clarifies that there is no incident in which a soldier was abducted," the military said in a statement.

Hamas released a video that appeared to show a bloodied person being dragged along the ground in a tunnel and photos of military fatigue and rifle. Reuters could not independently verify the identity of the person shown in the video nor his or her condition.