The Israeli army confirmed the launch this Sunday eight rockets from Rafah, on the southern tip of the Gaza Strip, towards central Israelincluding Tel Aviv, in an attack claimed by the Islamist group Hamas.

“After the sirens, eight shells were discovered crossing from the Rafah area into Israeli territory and “Some of them were intercepted.” details the military statement.

An attack that caused minor injury It is the first attack by a Palestinian Islamist group on that part of the country in nearly six months.

A military spokesman already said last week that the Israeli army believed that Hamas had a rocket arsenal in Rafah with the ability to reach the center of Israel and that they will use it as Israel advances towards the interior of this city at the southern tip of the enclave bordering Egypt.

This was reported by the Magen David Adom emergency service. assisted a man who was slightly injured when running to cover without specifying the location of the impact.

The armed wing of the Islamist organization Al-Qassam Brigades confirmed the launch of a “battery of missiles.” in response to the Zionist massacre of civilians.”

Air raid sirens were heard in Tel Aviv and other nearby cities and then the explosions of the Iron Dome, the Israeli air defense system that intercepts the projectiles.

This was reported to emergency services. shrapnel fell in several places, in the city of Ranana, north of Tel Aviv, as well as in the cities of Petah Tikva and Bnei Brak.

Hamas claims to have captured several Israeli soldiers

On the other hand, the spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Obeida, said this morning that his militia They captured several Israeli soldiers in a tunnel in Jabaliya. in the northern Gaza Strip, some of them are dead.

Obeida explained in a video broadcast on the group’s Telegram channels that Israeli soldiers carried out an operation to search for hostages in a tunnel in Jabaliya, but in the end “They were captured” with images showing a supposedly wounded soldier being dragged through a tunnel, as well as weapons and military equipment allegedly captured from Israeli troops.

For its part, the Israeli army indicated that “There is no kidnapping incident”in a short message on his X account after Obeida’s video.

“The enemy government and its repressive army continue their a blind and disorderly policy of revenge and destructionwith one ruling after another, presenting massacres and military pressure on our people as victories,” Obeida said in a video message.

Obeida indicated that the “occupying forces” They continue their offensive in Rafah and Jabaliya. “they are looking under the rubble for the remains of hostages whom they deliberately killed earlier.”

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The Israeli army captured on Friday the bodies of three Hamas hostages, Israeli Hanan Yablonka, Brazilian-Israeli Michel Nisenbaum and Mexican-French Orion Hernandezin Yabalia.

“According to the verified intelligence data we have, The hostages were killed during the October 7 massacre. and kidnapped at the Mefalsim junction towards Gaza by Hamas terrorists,” the army said in a statement that day.

In recent weeks, Israeli troops The bodies of four more hostages were also found in Yabalia.where, in their opinion, there are more prisoners, probably dead.

Of the 253 abducted on October 7 121 prisoners remain in the enclave, about 40 of them died according to Israel – more than 70 according to Hamas -; while there were four other hostages over the years, two of them are dead.

Since the start of the war, Israel and Hamas They reached an agreement on a one-week truce only at the end of November.which allowed the release of 105 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

Except, Hamas released four hostages in October; three were rescued by the army – two of them in February during a successful operation in Rafah; The bodies of 20 hostages were discovered, three of whom the Israeli military mistakenly killed in December.

(according to information from EFE)