IDF Launches Air Strike On Gaza, Balloon Burners Rained Down Israeli Again

JAKARTA - Incendiary balloons again rained down on Israeli territory, a few hours after the Israeli army (IDF) carried out airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, the first open clashes after the ceasefire agreement some time ago.

Firefighters battle to extinguish four blazes in southern Israel, Wednesday, June 16, which were ignited by a balloon-burning device launched from the Gaza Strip, Palestine for the second day in a row.

Israel's Fire and Rescue Service said in a statement that all the fires occurred in the Eshkol region and did not pose a risk to the public.

Ofer Lieberman, an Israeli farmer from Kibbutz Am Nir whose farmland has been the target of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, admits that he is used to the impacts on his territory.

"Unfortunately, we are used to this. Our area remains tense, even after the (Gaza) operation ended," he told Ynet as quoted by the Times of Israel Thursday, June 17.

"We are the first to come under fire as soon as something happens elsewhere. This time it's a flag march in Jerusalem," he added, referring to Tuesday's march of ultranationalist Jews through the Old City, which Hamas warned would trigger an escalation.

More than 3 hectares of lemon tree fields in Kibbutz Nir Am caught fire on Tuesday, along with nearly an acre of clementine trees, according to public broadcaster Kan. Wheat fields and tangerine orchards were also burned, with a total of more than 30 hectares of land burned.

Earlier, the IDF carried out airstrikes against Hamas military targets in Gaza after midnight on Wednesday, in response to incendiary balloon attacks from Gaza on Tuesday, which caused 26 fires in southern border towns.

The balloon strikes and IDF retaliations were the first open clashes since last month's 11-day conflict in the Gaza Strip ended. The retaliatory airstrikes were also the first since Naftali Bennett took office as Israeli Prime Minister.

Citing the Times of Israel, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who is the leader of the Yamina Political Party, has long insisted that arson attacks should be responded to by the IDF the same way as rocket attacks.