Jerusalem | Israel launched air strikes on the Gaza Strip on Monday after incendiary balloons were launched into its territory from the Palestinian enclave, causing forest fires.
• Read also: The first rocket fire from Gaza into Israel since May
A Palestinian security source in the area said that the raids targeting sites in Gaza City, Khan Yunis (south) and Jabalia (north) did not result in casualties, but caused material damage.
The source, who asked not to be identified, added that the armed Hamas movement, which holds power in Gaza, fired at Israeli planes, without going into further details.
The Israeli army confirmed that fighter jets targeted a “weapons manufacturing site owned by Hamas in Khan Yunis”, the entrance to an underground tunnel in Jabalia, and an underground missile launch site “near houses and a school in Shejaiya”, one of the neighborhoods of Gaza. city.
The army said in a statement, from Monday to Tuesday evening, that “the strikes came in response to Hamas launching incendiary balloons on Israeli territory earlier today.”
Earlier on Monday, Israeli firefighters reported several wildfires caused by incendiary balloons launched from the Gaza Strip.
These strikes come on the heels of other Israeli raids from Saturday to Sunday night in the Palestinian territories, targeting “four weapons manufacturing and storage sites” belonging to Hamas, according to the Israeli army.
The raids came after clashes between Palestinians and the Israeli army on Saturday, on the sidelines of demonstrations organized along the separation barrier between the Gaza Strip and Israel.
About 40 Palestinians were wounded by Israeli fire during the clashes, according to Hamas, while the Israeli security forces also reported that one person was seriously wounded in their ranks.
The Jewish state holds Hamas responsible for all actions taken towards its lands from the enclave that has been under Israeli siege for nearly fifteen years and in which two million people live.
Israel and Hamas fought an 11-day lightning offensive in May, during which 260 Palestinians were killed in Israeli raids on Gaza, including fighters, according to local authorities.
And in Israel, rocket fire from Gaza killed 13 people, including a soldier, according to the police and army.
