Tel Aviv/Gaza, July 2, (dpa/GNA) – The Israeli army said it had attacked a base of the Islamist Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip overnight.
The airstrikes were in response to incendiary balloons that had been sent from the coastal region towards Israel, the army said.
Militant Palestinians repeatedly send balloons loaded with explosives and incendiary devices over the border to Israel in order to cause damage there.
This regularly results in fires in fields in the south of the country.
In May, Israel’s armed forces engaged in an 11-day battle with Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.
According to official figures, 13 people were killed in Israel and 255 people died in Gaza.
Egypt eventually brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza’s ruling Hamas, which came into effect on 21 May.
The Islamist Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by Israel, the US and the EU.
According to aid organizations, a large part of the 2 million people in the Gaza Strip – whose land and sea borders and air space are controlled by Israel and Egypt – live in very poor conditions.
GNA