Israel-Lebanon latest: Hamas fires rocket barrage at Tel Aviv on anniversary of October 7 attack

More than 41,909 Palestinians have been killed in the last year of Israel’s ground and air offensive in the Gaza Strip, the local, Hamas-run health ministry has said in an update.

They added that more than 97,303 people have been wounded.

Israel began its assault in the Gaza Strip, intended to destroy Hamas, this time last year after Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking a further 251 hostage.

The mother of a 28-year-old British-Israeli woman being held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip for almost a year has urged the UK government to “fight for her release”.

In her first public speech since her daughter Emily Damari’s capture on 7 October last year, Mandy Damari, 63, told crowds gathered at Hyde Park on Sunday that it was “impossible to comprehend the pain” her daughter was going through while being held captive by Hamas.

“One year has passed and she is still in hell,” said the mother, who was born in Surrey and raised in south London.

Tom Watling reports.

The Israeli military has claimed that five rockets were launched at Israel from the southern Gaza Strip this morning.

Earlier, sirens were heard over Tel Aviv and central Israel. Hamas also claimed to have fired at Tel Aviv.

In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, the Israeli military wrote: “Following the alerts that were activated a short time ago in the center of the country, five launches were detected that crossed from the Khan Yunis area, falls were detected in the area, the details are under investigation.”

Hamas’ armed wing has attacked Israel‘s Tel Aviv with a missile salvo, the group has claimed in statement.

Earlier, we reported that the Israeli military said sirens were sounded in Tel Aviv and in central Israel.

Israel has expanded its intense bombing campaign in Lebanon, pounding a Palestinian refugee camp in the north of the country and unleashing dozens of strikes on the suburbs of Beirut.

Israeli warplanes hit areas as far north as the Beddawi camp, outside the city of Tripoli. The strikes killed a member of Hamas’s military wing in Lebanon, along with his wife and two daughters, according to the Palestinian militant group.

Israel said he served Hamas’ executive authority in Lebanon and had been directing attacks in the occupied West Bank. This marks the first time Israel has struck northern Lebanon since the 2006 war with Hezbollah.

Bel Trew reports from Jerusalem.

Families of the hostages marched to the Israeli Prime Minister’s residence in Jerusalem this morning, playing at 6.29am an air raid siren to mark exact moment Hamas’s 7 October attack started in the south of the country. There family members issued a heart felt plea to Benjamin Netanyahu to bring their loved ones home.

Of the 250 hostages believed to have been taken into Gaza, around 101 are thought to still remain inside - it is unknown how many are still alive.

Shir, 28 daughter of Keith Siegel, an American Israeli hostage in Gaza said she couldn’t have imagined “in her worst nightmares” that he would still be in Gaza one year on. Keith, 65 was seized by Hamas militants from Kfar Azar near the Gaza Border with his wife, who was released in the November hostage exchange deal. Keith, who is from North Carolina, remains inside.

“I couldn’t have imagined in my worst nightmares that a whole year would pass and my father would not be with us, I’m begging everyone to do more to bring him home safe,” she told The Independent in tears after the rally.

“He has been sitting in the tunnels in Gaza and no body has come to save him. I can’t imagine what is going on inside his head and how hard it is for him and how much he misses us. ”

Gil Dickmann’s cousin Carmel Gat, 41 was set to be released in the latest hostage exchange deal which fell through in the eleventh hour. Her family say she was shot dead in a tunnel in Gaza in August, as Israeli soldiers closed in.

He broke down into tears as he addressed the crowds urging Mr Netanyahu to “be the prime minister that choses life”.

“I still cannot believe that we will not have her back. For us it’s too late but it’s not too late for the other 101 hostages,” he said in tears.