Israeli fighter jets continued to pound the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Wednesday, targeting Hamas command centers and other assets and killing a senior commander in the Palestinian terror group, as the terror group fired long-range rockets toward both Haifa and Eilat later in the day.
Hamas boasted that it launched a long-range rocket from the Gaza Strip at Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat. The rocket did not set off sirens in Eilat or any other towns in the south, and the IDF later said that the projectile landed in an open area, causing no injuries or damage.
Earlier the terror group also claimed to fire a long-range R160 missile toward the Haifa area, setting off sirens in the northern towns of Daliyat al-Karmel and Kerem Maharal. The IDF said the projectile exploded in mid-air.
Also Wednesday, the IDF denounced Iran for allegedly taking an active part in preparing Hamas for the current war.
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said at a press conference Wednesday that Iran had directly aided Hamas ahead of the October 7 onslaught, which saw thousands of terrorists infiltrate into southern Israel. The gunmen burst into border communities as well as the site of an outdoor music festival and butchered over 1,000 civilians, including women, children and the elderly, killed over 300 members of security forces and kidnapped at least 224 people into Gaza, in the worst terror attack in Israel’s history.
“Iran directly aided Hamas before the war, with training, supplying weapons, money and technological know-how,” Hagari charged. “Even now, Iranian aid to Hamas continues in the form of intelligence and online incitement against the State of Israel.”
Later in the day, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the United States of “directing” strikes Israel has been carrying out on Hamas, calling the US “a definite accomplice of criminals,” during a speech in Tehran.
“The United States is in some way directing the crime that is being committed in Gaza,” he said, suggesting the hands of Americans “were tainted with the blood of the oppressed, children, patients, women and others.”
As the cross-border fire intensified, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak — who has vehemently backed Israel’s right to exist and visited last week — said he supports a pause in fighting to allow aid into Gaza, but rejected calls for a full ceasefire.
Israel has made clear it intends to continue its military campaign against Hamas until the terror group is eliminated from Gaza. It has not explicitly ruled out the potential for a humanitarian pause.
Sunak told lawmakers in the House of Commons that the United Kingdom is working to get aid into besieged Gaza, including a Royal Air Force plane carrying 21 tons of aid that is flying to Cyprus on Wednesday bound for the region.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Wednesday that it will be forced to stop its work in Gaza unless it receives fuel immediately.
“Time is running out. We urgently need fuel,” said UNRWA communications director Juliette Touma.
Israel has adamantly rejected the possibility of allowing fuel to enter Gaza, and has accused Hamas of hoarding fuel and refusing to hand it over to hospitals.
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