Hamas fires long-range rockets at Tel Aviv just days before scheduled cease-fire talks: officials

Hamas fired two long-range missiles at Tel Aviv on Tuesday — just two days before scheduled cease-fire and hostage negotiations that the terror group refuses to attend unless Israel agrees to a permanent end to the war in Gaza.

The Israel Defense Forces said the pair of M90 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip in the morning, with an explosion heard in Tel Aviv in Israel.

One of the missiles missed the city and veered into the ocean, while the second failed to cross the border at all, according to the Israeli air force. No casualties were reported in the attack, the first by Hamas on Tel Aviv in months.

Hamas immediately took credit for the attack, with military spokesman Abu Obeida touting that it was “in response to the Zionist massacres against civilians and the deliberate displacement of our people.”

The attack came after Israeli airstrikes in central and southern Gaza killed 19 people Tuesday, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, which does not differentiate between civilians and terrorists when reporting deaths.

With tensions increasing between Israel and the Palestinian terror group, the fate of Thursday’s scheduled hostage negotiation meeting with international mediators remains unclear.

Hamas announced Sunday that it will be backing out of the talks, claiming the discussions have strayed too far from what was previously pitched as a possible solution for both sides.

The terror group, now led by Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar, has repeatedly demanded that the negotiations include terms for permanently ending the war in Gaza, a condition Israel has slammed as a non-starter until the Jewish state fully destroys the terror group.

But a cease-fire deal will be the only way for Israel to avoid a retaliatory attack from Iran after the assassination of top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh there, three senior Iranian officials told Reuters.

The sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, claimed Iran and its anti-Israel terror proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah, will attack the Jewish state if the cease-fire talks drag out or ultimately fail.

The threat comes as world leaders continue to try to de-escalate tensions between Israel and Iran over fears that an all-out war will erupt across the Middle East.

The US ambassador to Turkey confirmed Tuesday that Washington was asking its allies in the region to help convince Iran not to make the situation worse.

White House rep John Kirby told reporters Monday that the attack from Iran and Hezbollah is imminent and threatens the already strained cease-fire talks.

“Something could happen as soon as this week by Iran and its proxies. … That is a US assessment as well as an Israel assessment,” Kirby said.

“If something does happen this week, the timing of it could certainly well have an impact on these talks we want to do on Thursday,” he added.

Despite the ongoing negotiation efforts, the fighting in southern Gaza remains intense, with Israel mourning its latest soldier killed in a shootout with Hamas gunmen on Monday. 

The IDF said Sgt. Omer Ginzburg, 19, with the Paratroopers Brigade’s 101st Battalion, was killed by a Hamas sniper during an operation in the southern hub.

His killing brings the IDF’s death toll to 332 since the ground offensive in Gaza began.   

With Post wires