Rocket attack (archive)
Rocket attack (archive)Flash 90

Hamas claimed Thursday morning that it had fired a Fajr missile at Tel Aviv. There were no reports in Israel of a missile hitting the Tel Aviv area, officials said.

While Israel is carrying out Operation Pillar of Defense, Hamas has its own name for its ongoing terror campaign against southern Israel - “Sing'il Rock” - a reference to heavenly rocks that, according to Muslim tradition, Allah rained down on the heads of unbelievers.

On Thursday morning, Hamas released a statement saying that it had fired the missile at Tel Aviv, one of some 150 that have been fired since the IDF eliminated top Hamas terrorist Ahmed Jaabari, commander of Hamas's "military" terror wing, onWednesday night. A government spokesperson said that there had been no evidence of such an event, and no witnesses have stepped forward to confirm the attack, although the story was given wide coverage in Israeli media.

Nevertheless, the possibility of such an attack existed, and was probably even likely, said security officials. There was a very strong likelihood that Hamas would try to fire a missile at Tel Aviv or another city in the center of the country, the officials said, in order to score a decisive blow against Israel in revenge for the elimination of Jaabari.

IDF officials expected the barrage to continue throughout Thursday, as Gazans buried Jaabari. The IDF was on alert throughout the country, saying that terror activity was likely to increase, with possible rioting by Arabs in PA controlled areas of Judea and Samaria, and a strong likelihood that terrorists would attempt to kidnap IDF soldiers or Israeli civilians. Speaking to Israel Radio, Public Security Minister Yitzchak Aharonovich said that the rocket fire would most likely get worse as the day went on, as the funeral for Jaabari progressed.