Tel Aviv [Israel], January 2: The armed branch of the Hamas, the Qassam Brigades, said it launched rocket attacks on the greater Tel Aviv area, while Israeli media reported more than 20 rockets fired from Gaza into Israel.
The attack was "reaction to the Zionist massacres of civilians" in the Gaza Strip, the Qassam Brigades said in a statement. They published a video announcing they had used M90 rockets.
Most of the rockets were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system. According to the emergency services, no casualties were initially reported as a result of the shelling.
Separately, Israel is investigating the massacre by Hamas and affiliated groups on October 7, which, according to a media report, could lead to one of the most important court cases of the post-war period.
Israeli investigators are currently reconstructing the events on the basis of around 200,000 photos and videos as well as 2,000 witness statements with the intention of initiating legal proceedings against those responsible, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
Israel has so far identified around 800 civilians murdered on October 7, including 37 minors under the age of 17, six of whom were under the age of five, the newspaper continued. According to the head of the forensic centre, computer tomography images showed signs of torture and executions.
Forensic evidence provided to the newspaper by Israeli officials showed, among others, that some victims were burnt alive.
Hamas has denied that its fighters killed children and abused women, the story said.
The newspaper said it investigated some of the evidence and also conducted interviews with first responders, survivors, victims' families and forensic experts to document an attack that the Israeli police chief described as unprecedented in its cruelty and systematic.
The paper said it is likely to be the most important trial in the country since the trial of Nazi criminal Adolf Eichmann in 1961, who was hanged for his role in the Holocaust, Israel's only judicial execution.
The war between Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Israel was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel's history on October 7, in which fighters from Hamas and other groups murdered around 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped around 240 others to the Gaza Strip.
Israel responded with massive airstrikes and a ground offensive. The government's goal is the complete destruction of Hamas.
Source: Qatar Tribune
