BEIRUT, November 15 (RIA Novosti) – The armed wing of Gaza-based radical Islamic Jihad group took responsibility on Thursday for firing a long-range rocket that landed in the southern suburb of Israeli capital, Tel Aviv.
"The Quds Brigades hit the occupied city of Tel Rabea [Tel Aviv] with a Fajr-5 rocket causing a large explosion to shake the city," the group said in a statement.
Islamic Jihad also threatened that Israel would experience "further surprises so long as the aggression against the Palestinian people continues.”
The Israeli military earlier said two rockets fired from the Gaza Strip reached Tel Aviv. One of them exploded in the suburb of Rishon Lezion and the other one – off the coast in the Mediterranean Sea.
No injuries or damage from the explosions have been reported.
It is the first time Tel Aviv has been threatened by missile attacks since the 1991 Gulf War, when missiles fired by Saddam Hussein's regime hit the city.
In response to rocket attacks on Tel Aviv, Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned Palestinian militants that they would pay a steep price for their actions.
The Israeli military was reportedly given orders to call up 30,000 reservists in anticipation of a possible ground offensive on Gaza.
Israel launched Operation Pillar of Defense on Wednesday, killing Hamas' military chief Ahmed al-Jabari and attacking hundreds of rocket-launching sites, ammunition depots and “terrorist” cells that belong to radical Islamist groups operating in Gaza, primarily Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
According to official reports, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have killed at least 15 Palestinians in Gaza, including three children and seven militants, and wounded more than 188 since the start of the operation.
Palestinian militants responded to Israeli air strikes and tank fire by launching about 160 rockets against cities in southern and central Israel on Thursday, killing at least three people.
Israel last carried out a full-scale attack on Gaza during Operation Cast Lead four years ago in which 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed.
