Hamas fires first rockets since truce collapses

By Dana Karni and Kareem Khadder, CNN

(CNN) — Hamas fired rockets at Israel from Gaza Thursday, the militant group’s first response to Israel’s renewed offensive in the Strip that shattered the two-month-old ceasefire.

Three projectiles were fired at central Israel, the Israeli military said. One was intercepted and two “fell into an open area,” with no casualties reported.

Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, confirmed it had launched an attack, saying it had “bombed the city of Tel Aviv deep inside the occupied territories with a barrage of M90 rockets” in retaliation for Israel’s attacks this week on Gaza that killed hundreds.

The rockets are the first to be fired from Gaza since the Israel broke the ceasefire with Hamas that had held since January, first bombarding the Strip with airstrikes on Tuesday before launching a ground offensive a day later.

Israel also came under fire overnight from Yemen’s Houthi rebels. The Iran-back militia said it fired a ballistic missile at Israel in response to Israel’s renewed war in Gaza – the second it has fired since the ceasefire collapsed. Israel’s military said it intercepted the missile.

Israel blames the new fighting on Hamas for refusing to accept revised ceasefire terms. Hamas, in turn, has accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of unilaterally upending the truce and putting hostages “at risk of an unknown fate.”

Netanyahu faced fury from protesters in Jerusalem on Wednesday as thousands gathered outside Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, to oppose the renewed fighting.

Protesters have accused Netanyahu of restarting the war in order to solidify his governing coalition, which has long threatened to collapse due to divisions over the war in Gaza.

Swiftly after Tuesday’s airstrikes, which Gaza’s health ministry said killed more than 400 people, far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he would be returning to Netanyahu’s coalition. He had quit the government in January as Israel agreed to a ceasefire in Hamas.

At a National Security Ministry meeting on Thursday, Ben-Gvir said he was “happy to return after two months of respite.”

Ben-Gvir’s return to government will come as a boon to Netanyahu, who has to pass Israel’s next budget before a March 31 deadline or face fresh elections.

Israel continued to pound Gaza overnight – killing at least 59 people, according to Palestinian officials – after it announced “targeted ground activities” earlier Wednesday.

The military said it had retaken the Netzarim Corridor, a strip of land that splits Gaza in half, dividing the central Gaza City and northern areas from the southern parts of the Strip that borders Egypt.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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