16th July, 2018
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) hit two Hamas posts in the Gaza Strip on Monday in response to the latter flying so-called arson balloons toward Israeli territory, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said.
“Moments ago, an IAF aircraft struck two Hamas posts in the northern Gaza Strip.
“These posts were located near areas where arson balloons are launched, starting fires in Israel.
“The strike was in response to Hamas’ arson attacks against Israeli civilians and sovereignty,’’ the IDF said on Twitter.
On Saturday, the IAF hit dozens of militant targets in the Gaza Strip, while Hamas, supported by the Islamic Jihad group, fired about 200 rockets and projectiles at southern Israel.
The hostilities lasted for about 24 hours and ended after Palestinian militant groups said that a ceasefire arrangement had been coordinated with Israel through Egypt’s mediation efforts.
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, called Saturday’s airstrikes on the Gaza Strip the hardest since the military operation in the enclave in 2014 and threatened Hamas with new strikes in case it continued its attacks on Israel.
Hostilities between the Israelis and the Palestinians near the Gaza border increased since late March, which marked the beginning of the Palestinian protest campaign against Israel the Great March of Return.
According to the Palestinian Authorities, some 140 people have been killed and thousands of others wounded by the Israeli forces since then.