Gaza militants fire rockets at Tel Aviv after Israel destroys high-rise building

An Israeli woman was killed and eight people were injured south of Tel Aviv after Gaza militants fired rockets towards central Israel.
3 min read
11 May, 2021
At least eight people were injured near Tel Aviv [Getty]
Israeli forces destroyed a high-rise building in a bombing raid in the besieged Gaza Strip on Tuesday evening, with Palestinian militants firing a volley of rockets towards central Israel in retaliation.

One woman was killed in the city of Rishon Lezion near Tel Aviv, medics said. Another eight civilians were injured by rocket fire in the suburbs of Holon and Givatayim.

The twelve-story Hanadi Tower in Gaza City was levelled in an Israeli air strike on Tuesday evening.

There were no immediate reports of casualties in building, which the Israeli military said was used as offices by top officials from the ruling Hamas militant group. 

Initial reports in Palestinian media say the tower contained both offices and residential apartments.

Shortly after the bombing, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas fired dozens of rockets towards central Israel.

Air raid sirens were heard in Tel Aviv and other cities, as well as in the Ben Gurion International Airport.

Authorities have suspended flights from the airport, aviation authority spokesman Ofer Lefler told AFP. Incoming flights have been rerouted to Cyprus, Israel's Channel 13 reported.

A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit near a bus in Holon south of Tel Aviv, police said. The impact injured four people, two of them seriously.

Among those injured was a five-year-old girl, medics said.


Fragments from a rocket intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome system hit a house in the Givatayim suburb, lightly injuring four people.

A woman was killed by rocket fire in Rishon Lezion near Tel Aviv. Details were not immediately available.

Several high-rise buildings in the Gaza Strip were being evacuated on Tuesday evening amid fears of further strikes by Israeli forces, Palestinian authorities said.

The Islamic Jihad and Hamas militant groups have threatened to continue firing rockets at Israeli cities if any more high-rise buildings are demolished.

Shortly after authorities said they were evacuating buildings in the besieged coastal strip, an Israeli airstrike destroyed another high-rise building in Gaza City.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Benny Gantz are due to make a statement on Tuesday evening amid anticipation the military will launch a wider operation in the Gaza Strip.

Rocket fire earlier on Tuesday killed two Israeli women, while airstrikes on the Gaza Strip killed at least 28 Palestinians including ten children.

The killings come after days of escalated police violence in Jerusalem, where Israeli forces have attacked thousands of worshippers gathered in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The attempted expulsion of several Palestinian families from the east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah has also heightened tensions.

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