Israeli Air Force strikes in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the use of balloons with incendiary devices.
The Israeli air force struck positions of the Palestinian Hamas movement in Gaza in the early hours of this morning in retaliation for the use of incendiary balloons by the enclave that resulted in fires in southern Israel.
“As a result of the continued use of incendiary balloons from the Gaza Strip (…), Hamas military infrastructure and a rocket launcher have been hit militarily,” the Israeli military said in a statement issued earlier this morning. “In areas where civilians live, underlining once again that Hamas continues to endanger Palestinian civilians.” No injuries have been reported so far.
Four fires broke out on Friday in the Eskol area near the Gaza Strip, the Israeli fire brigade said, without mentioning any casualties. He clarified that experts concluded that the fires were due to “incendiary balloons”. The last time balloons with improvised explosive devices were sent from the Gaza Strip to Israel on July 25 , the Jewish state had reacted by launching airstrikes against alleged positions of Hamas, the Islamist militant group.
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The Jewish state blames Hamas for any action from the area it rules, the Gaza Strip, which has been under Israeli siege for 15 years and is home to some 2 million people. Sporadic incidents – mainly the use of balloons with adapted incendiary devices and air strikes in retaliation – have been going on since May 21, when the ceasefire that ended the eleven-day lightning war (May 10-21) between Israel and Hamas. In that war, 260 people were killed on the Palestinian side, including children, teenagers and fighters, and 13 dead in Israel, including a child, a teenager and a soldier.
Further north, the Israeli army also carried out airstrikes in Lebanon, reacting to the rocket fire blamed on the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah. It was the first Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon since 2014.
