Israeli aircraft on Saturday struck Hamas sites in the Gaza Strip, as a result of incendiary balloons launched from the Palestinian enclave,
This was disclosed by Israel’s military.
The Israeli military said its air strikes were in “response to continual launches of incendiary balloons from Gaza into Israel throughout the day”, although there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the strike on what the military said was a rocket launching site and a compound belonging to Hamas, the group that rules Gaza.
Since a May 21 ceasefire ended 11 days of Israel-Hamas fighting, Palestinians in Gaza have sporadically launched balloons laden with incendiary material across the border, causing fires that have burnt fields in Israel.
Palestinians say the balloons aim to put pressure on Israel to ease restrictions on the coastal enclave that were tightened during the May fighting.
Balloon launches had mostly ebbed after Israel eased some restrictions on Gaza, however, on Friday, balloons were again launched from Gaza, causing at least four bushfires in areas near the Israel-Gaza frontier.
