First anniversary of Gaza war: Hamas fires rocket barrage targeting Israel's Tel Aviv- Top updates

On Monday (Oct 7), Israel marked the first anniversary of the Gaza war. The war in Gaza was triggered when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked southern Israel (on October 7 last year), killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 as hostages, according to Israeli tallies. More than 100 hostages remain held by Hamas.

Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry. On Monday, the armed wing of Hamas claimed that it fired rockets into southern Israel. Later in the day, the Palestinian militant group said that it fired a barrage of rockets targeting Tel Aviv.

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The first anniversary of the war came as Israel is engaged in a conflict with Iran-aligned Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and is preparing to retaliate against Iran's massive missile attack last week.

>Hamas' armed wingEzzedine Al-Qassam said that it "struck deep into the occupation's territory, targeting the city of Tel Aviv with a barrage of M90 missiles as part of the ongoing war of attrition."

> Hamas' ally Hezbollah has vowed tokeep up the fight against Israeli “aggression.” Hezbollah called Israel a “cancerous gland that must be eliminated, no matter how long it takes.”

>Israel's President Isaac Herzog on Monday said the world "must support Israel" to bring peace, as the country marked the first anniversaryof the war."The world has to realise and understand that in order to change the course of history and bring peace, a better future to the region, it must support Israel in its battle against its enemies,"Herzog said in a statement.

>An Israeli campaign group on Monday announced the death of a hostage held in Gaza. According to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Idan Shtivi, 28, was abducted from the site of the Nova festival and his "body is still held captive by Hamas."

> Earlier in the day, thousands of Israelisconverged on the Nova Music Festival locationto commemorate the first anniversary of the Hamas attack. More than 300 people were killed and 44 were abducted when Hamas attacked the festival in 2023.

>The playback of the last track of the Nova party followed by a minute of silence was observed before the memorial was commemorated with prayers and song.

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>The Israeli military said it had also prevented an "immediate threat" from Hamas' intentions to fire rockets.

>"The IAF (air force) struck Hamas launch posts and underground terrorist infrastructure throughout the Gaza Strip," the military said."Furthermore, overnight, the IAF and IDF (Israeli army) artillery struck targets in the central Gaza Strip that posed a threat to IDF troops operating in the area," it added.

> The first anniversary of the Gaza war was also commemorated in other countries. In France, President Emmanuel Macron paid tributes to the victims of the October 7 attack in Israel.

> In Australia, people gathered for vigils to mark the first anniversary of the conflict.At Sydney's famed Bondi Beach, participants holding Israeli andAustralian flags listened in silence to a reading of the names of Israel's 101 hostages still held by Hamas.

(With inputs from agencies)