Israeli Warplanes Bomb Several Sites in Gaza

Gaza, MINA – Israeli warplanes bombed several sites in the Gaza Strip, Palestine on Saturday. The Israeli military said Hamas sites were targeted in response to incendiary balloon attacks launched from the Palestinian enclave.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the attack. The Israeli military claims the targets were rocket launch sites and compounds belonging to Hamas, the Palestinian resistance group that governs Gaza.

The community strongly condemns the attacks carried out by the Israeli army on the Palestinian people in recent days and supports independence for Palestine, Republika reported.

Hamas did not immediately comment. Since the May 21 ceasefire that ended 11 days of Israeli-Hamas fighting, Palestinians in Gaza have sporadically launched incendiary balloons across the border.

The balloons caused fires that have burned fields in Israel. Palestinians say incendiary balloons were deliberately released to pressure Israel to loosen restrictions on the coastal enclave that were tightened during fighting in May.

The balloon launches have largely receded after Israel relaxed some restrictions on Gaza. However, on Friday, another balloon was launched from Gaza and caused at least four fires in the area near the Israel-Gaza border.

“The air strikes were a response to the continuous launch of incendiary balloons from Gaza into Israel throughout the day,” the Israeli military said.

Fires along the Gaza border erupted on Friday when Israel separately exchanged fire on its northern border with Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. The incident comes on the third day of cross-border attacks amid wider regional tensions with Iran. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)