Hamas fired two rockets at Israel's commercial hub Tel Aviv for the first time in months and Israeli airstrikes killed at least 19 Palestinians in Gaza, as mediators aimed to resume ceasefire talks later in the week.
There were no reports of casualties in Israel.
Two rockets had been fired from Gaza, the Israeli military said, one of which fell in the sea and the other had not reached Israeli territory.
Hamas' military wing said in a statement: "We have bombed the city of Tel Aviv and its suburbs with two 'M90' missiles in response to the Zionist massacres against civilians and the deliberate displacement of our people."
Israeli airstrikes killed 19 Palestinians in the central and southern Gaza today, medics said. Hamas last claimed firing rockets at Tel Aviv in May.
One strike killed six people in Deir Al-Balah, including a mother and her twin four-day-old babies, while seven other Palestinians were killed in a strike on a house in the nearby Al-Bureij camp.
Four people were killed in two separate strikes on the Al-Maghazi camp in central Gaza and Rafah in the south, and two were killed in a strike on a house in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza City in the north, medics said.
The Israeli military and Islamic Jihad and Hamas said they were fighting in several areas of Gaza.
The Israeli military said it had killed Palestinian gunmen and dismantled military structures in Khan Younis, located weapons and explosives in Rafah, and struck rocket launchers and sniper posts in central Gaza.
Ceasefire talks
The US said yesterday that it expected Gaza ceasefire talks slated for Thursday to go ahead as planned, and that an agreement was still possible.
Axios reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken planned to set off today for discussions in Qatar, Egypt and Israel.
The Israeli government said it would send a delegation to Thursday's talks to finalise the details of the agreement proposal.
However Hamas is demanding a workable plan to implement the proposal, presented by US President Joe Biden in May - rather than more talks.
A Hamas official told Reuters that a CNN report saying that the group planned to attend the talks on Thursday was wrong.
"Our statement the other day was clear: what is needed is the implementation, not more negotiation," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
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Tensions high after Tehran assassination
Today's rocket launches come with Israel on high alert ahead of a possible attack by Iran and its proxies after two senior figures from Hamas and Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group, were assassinated.
Israel claimed responsibility for killing the Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr, and is widely believed to have carried out the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Iranian soil.
Several senior Iranian officials have told Reuters that only a ceasefire deal in Gaza would hold Iran back from direct retaliation against Israel for the killing.
Iran's foreign ministry has dismissed calls for restraint from France, Germany and the UK, claiming that the demands "lack political logic and contradict principles of international law".
Yesterday, the UK, France and Germany made a joint plea for an end to fighting between Israel and Hamas with "no further delay".
The US Navy has deployed warships and a submarine to the Middle East to bolster Israeli defenses.
Putin meets Abbas in Russia
The Palestinian health ministry has said that at least 39,929 Gazans have been killed in the war between Israel and Palestinian militants, now in its eleventh month.
Hamas said that a further 92,240 people have been wounded since Israel invaded, after 1,200 of its citizens were killed by Hamas on 7 October, with many more taken hostage.
Russian President Vladimir Putin today told Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that he is "concerned" about the death toll.
"We are concerned above all about civilian losses," Putin told Mr Abbas during a visit to Moscow.
Speaking on state television, the Russian leader claimed that his regime is "doing everything" it can "to support Palestine and the Palestinian people".
Meanwhile, US credit rating agency Fitch has downgraded Israel, warning that the war in Gaza could last "well into 2025".
It lowered Israel's rating from "A+" to "A".
"The conflict in Gaza could last well into 2025 and there are risks of it broadening to other fronts," the agency said in a note.
"In addition to human losses, it could result in significant additional military spending, destruction of infrastructure and more sustained damage to economic activity and investment, leading to a further deterioration of Israel's credit metrics."
Houthis seize UN office
Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have stormed the headquarters of the United Nations’ Human Rights Office in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, seizing documents, furniture and vehicles, a senior UN official has said.
The seizure was the latest move in a crackdown by the Houthis on people working with the UN, aid agencies and foreign embassies.
The Iranian-backed rebels have been targeting shipping throughout the Red Sea corridor to protest the Israel-Hamas war, and have also launched strikes on Israel itself.
Gunmen took over the UN Human Rights Office’s premises in Sanaa on 3 August, after forcing staff to hand over belongings, UN human rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement.
"Ansar Allah forces must leave the premises and return all assets and belongings immediately," Mr Turk said, using the official name of the Houthis.
The UN’s Human Rights Office suspended its operations in Sanaa and other Houthi-controlled areas in the north of the country following attacks on its operations in June.
But it still operates in the parts of Yemen controlled by the internationally recognised, Saudi-backed government, who the Houthis have been fighting since 2014.
The war in Yemen has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, which has claimed tens of thousands more lives.
Additional reporting PA
