GAZA/JERUSALEM, May 26 (Xinhua) -- The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, announced on Sunday that it had launched a barrage of rockets towards Tel Aviv in central Israel, marking the first such attack in months.

 

In a statement, the Al-Qassam Brigades said it fired the rockets in response to the Israeli killings of civilians in the Gaza Strip.

 

Sirens blared in central Israel, and explosions were heard in Tel Aviv, a Xinhua correspondent reported.

 

Loud explosions were also reported in other Israeli cities. Local media reported that shrapnel from a rocket struck a car in the Israeli city of Herzliya, causing no injuries.

 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that eight projectiles were identified crossing from the southernmost Gazan city of Rafah into Israeli territory, with a number of them intercepted by the IDF's defense systems.