JERUSALEM -- Hamas militants in Gaza have successfully test-fired an Iranian rocket able to reach Israel's largest urban center, the country's military intelligence chief said yesterday.

Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin told parliament's foreign affairs and defense committee that the rocket could fly 37 miles, and strike metropolitan Tel Aviv, Israeli media reported.

Until now, rockets fired from Gaza have reached up to 25 miles, putting one-eighth of Israel's population within range.

Gen. Yadlin said the rocket was fired in recent days, but no further details were immediately available from his testimony before the closed session.

Defense officials say Palestinian militants in Gaza generally test-fire rockets into the Mediterranean Sea.

It was not clear whether the rocket actually flew 37 miles, or why Gen. Yadlin described it as being of Iranian origin.

The Israeli military has said in the past that rockets that reached Israel were from Iran, citing paint, tool work and lettering on fragments from projectiles found after impact. But the military has not publicly released clear evidence proving Iranian involvement.

Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza, called Israel's claims an attempt to "justify the crimes it committed in Gaza."

Tehran had no comment on Gen. Yadlin's allegations of Iranian involvement.

Speaking during a joint U.S.-Israel military exercise yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said such missiles threaten the "whole world ... but first of all, they threaten our civilians, our cities."

Israel launched a bruising war against Gaza militants last winter to quash rocket and mortar fire that had bombarded southern Israeli communities for eight years.

Although the attacks have decreased dramatically, Israeli officials say weapons continue to reach militants through tunnels under Gaza's border with Egypt.

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