The military wing of Hamas, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, has issued a warning to Israel that it possesses a powerful anti-tank missile that it has not yet deployed in the ongoing conflict. The group claims to have the Tufan missile, an Iranian-made weapon that is reverse-engineered from the American BGM-71 TOW missile.

The Tufan missile is a wire-guided or laser-guided missile that can hit targets up to 3.5 km away with a high-explosive, anti-tank, or thermobaric warhead. The missile has been used by Iran and its allies in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen against armored vehicles and buildings. The Tufan missile has several variants, some of which are poorly documented, but are believed to have improved range, accuracy, and penetration.

The Al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement that they have the Tufan missile in their arsenal, but have not used it so far because they prefer to target military installations and avoid civilian casualties. However, they warned that if Israel continues to bomb Gaza indiscriminately and kill innocent people, they will have no choice but to use the Tufan missile for the first time against Israeli tanks and settlements.

The statement came after a night of intense Israeli airstrikes on Gaza that killed at least 13 Palestinians, including a five-year-old girl and a senior Islamic Jihad leader. The Israeli military said it struck more than 100 targets in Gaza, including rocket launchers, tunnels, command centers, and weapons depots. It also said it intercepted dozens of rockets fired by Hamas and other groups from Gaza towards Israel.

The escalation of violence follows weeks of tension over the planned evictions of Palestinian families from East Jerusalem and the Israeli police raids on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. The international community has called for an end to the hostilities and a return to dialogue. However, both sides seem determined to continue the fight until their demands are met.