In Response To Fire Balloon Attacks, Israel Bombs Hamas Sites In Gaza

JAKARTA - Israeli planes bombed Hamas sites in the Gaza Strip on Saturday. The Israeli military claimed the action was in response to incendiary balloon attacks launched from the Palestinian enclave.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the attack targeting what the military said was a rocket launch site and compound belonging to Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza. Hamas did not immediately comment.

Launching Antara, since the May 21 ceasefire that ended 11 days of Israeli-Hamas fighting, Palestinians in Gaza have sporadically launched incendiary balloons across the border, causing fires that have burned fields in Israel.

Palestinians say the balloons are aimed at pressuring Israel to loosen restrictions on the coastal enclave that were tightened during the May fighting.

The balloon launches have largely receded after Israel relaxed some restrictions on Gaza.

But on Friday, balloons were launched again from Gaza, causing at least four fires in the area near the Israel-Gaza border.

The Israeli military said its airstrikes were a "response to the continuous launch of incendiary balloons from Gaza into Israel throughout the day".

Fires along the Gaza border erupted on Friday when Israel separately exchanged fire on its northern border with Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, on the third day of cross-border attacks amid wider regional tensions with Iran.