Hamas Chief: Rocket Fire At Tel Aviv Was ‘Mistake’ And Warning

One of the attendees at the meeting with Haniyeh told the Times of Israel that Hamas’ chief in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, was meeting with an Egyptian delegation when two of the rockets were fired and that all the people in the room had been surprised by them.

Israeli media at the time reported that low-ranking Hamas operatives had toyed with a rocket launcher on the Gaza coast that was already aimed to fire toward central Israel in a future conflict and accidentally set it off in the process.

Israel’s Channel 13 compared the ensuing chain of events to “something out of Monty Python.”

Last week’s rocket from Gaza struck a home in central Israel, injuring seven people, including three children.

Separately on Tuesday, a Twitter post attributed to Hamas threatened the families of IDF Lt. Hadar Goldin, St.-Sgt. Oron Shaul, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, saying, “You will see your sons only if you accept the terms of the Resistance.”

Goldin and Shaul were two IDF soldiers believed to have been killed during 2014’s Operation Protective Edge. Mengistu and al-Sayed are thought to be alive after they went missing in the area.

Later on Tuesday, the Al-Qasam Brigade released a music video entitled “A Message from Captivity” addressing the families of the captured and simulating the perspective of one of the captives writing a letter to their family in Israel.

In the song, the captive appeals to both the government of Israel and the families to secure their release.

“In captivity I ask my mother, ‘Will I be released?’” the captive says at the end.