The Israeli airstrikes on Gaza come after Palestinians in the besieged enclave sent incendiary balloons into southern Israel.
The Israeli Air Force launched airstrikes on the Gaza Strip early Wednesday after Palestinians from the besieged enclave sent incendiary balloons into southern Israel, the IDF and witnesses said. in Gaza.
In a statement, the IDF said it had attacked Hamas complexes and was “ready for any scenario, including renewed fighting in the face of continuing terrorist acts emanating from Gaza.” He added that the raids were a response to the launching of the balloons, which Israeli firefighters said caused 20 fires in open fields in communities near the Gaza border.
It was not immediately clear whether there had been any casualties in Gaza as a result of the shelling.
Palestinian sources told the AFP news agency that the raids targeted at least one site east of the southern town of Khan Younes. A Hamas spokesman, confirming the Israeli attacks, told Reuters news agency that the Palestinians would continue to continue their “courageous resistance and defend their rights and their sacred sites” in Jerusalem.
Air raids mark first major outbreak between Israel and Gaza since a ceasefire May 21 ended Israel’s 11-day assault on the territory, which killed 256 Palestinians, including 66 children, according to authorities in Gaza. Twelve people in Israel were also killed by rockets fired from the enclave.
Gaza tonight pic.twitter.com/2iwp09R1js
– Muhammad Smiry (@MuhammadSmiry) June 15, 2021
These are also the first raids on Gaza since a new Israeli coalition government, led by right-wing nationalists Naftali Bennett, took over over the weekend, ending his 12-year tenure as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The new government on Monday approved a “provocative” march by far-right Israeli nationalists and pro-settler groups across occupied East Jerusalem.
Hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza protested against the so-called “March of the flags», Which marks the anniversary of Israel’s occupation in 1967 of the eastern part of the city.
The rally took place as tensions remain high over Israel’s planned forced displacement of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
Before the march, Israeli police forcibly evicted dozens of Palestinians from outside the Damascus Gate of the Old City. At least 17 Palestinians were arrested and 33 others were injured as Israeli police fired stun grenades in the vicinity of the Damascus Gate.
Hundreds of Jewish ultra-nationalists participating in the march were heard chanting “Death to the Arabs” in Hebrew. In another anti-Palestinian chant, they shouted, “Let your village burn down.
