CAIRO, October 12. /TASS/. The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (IQB, the military wing of HAMAS) has fired 4,500 rockets at Israel, the group’s spokesman Abu Ubayda said.

"As many as 3,500 rockets have been fired at the Israeli towns and cities adjacent to the Gaza Strip; another 1,000 rockers have been fired at the areas occupied by Israel," Al Jazeera quoted him as saying.

According to the spokesman, Hamas started preparing for an operation against Israel in 2021. "We are prepared for any ground intervention by Israel and will take more measures to make it suffer great losses," Ubayda warned.

Tensions in the Middle East flared up again after Hamas militants infiltrated Israel from the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian movement described its attack as a response to the actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Israel declared a state of readiness for war, announced a total blockade of Gaza and started carrying out strikes on the Palestinian enclave, as well as on certain areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank. Nearly 1,500 Palestinians have been killed and over 6,800 have suffered wounds; in Israel, the death toll stands at about 1,500 and almost 4,000 people have been wounded.