Conflicts & War

Israel launches new airstrikes on Gaza

Gaza, Jun 16 (EFE).- Israel launched new airstrikes on the Gaza Strip early Wednesday, security sources from the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which governs the enclave, confirmed.

The air offensive is in response to the launching of dozens of incendiary balloons on Tuesday by Hamas sympathizers across the border from Israel in protest at the holding of the “Parade of Flags,” an Israeli ultra-nationalist march through Jerusalem.

The same sources said that unmanned Israeli Defense Forces reconnaissance drones flew over the coastal enclave around midnight before explosions were heard in the south and center of the Strip.

The attacks, as confirmed by Hamas and eyewitnesses, targeted military installations belonging to the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of that Islamic movement, with no casualties reported for the moment.

Fighter jets attacked military compounds of Hamas in response to the launching of incendiary balloons from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory, the IDF said in a statement.

It assured that it was “ready for all scenarios, including renewed fighting in the face of continued terrorist acts emanating from Gaza.”

The Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip are the first since May 21, when a “mutual, simultaneous and unconditional” truce came into force that ended an escalation of conflict that lasted 11 days and left 255 dead in the enclave and 13 in Israel.

The launching of the balloons on Tuesday sparked more than 25 fires in southern Israel, causing no injuries or major damage, according to Israeli authorities.

Palestinian resistance organizations responded to the celebration of the contentious march on Tuesday afternoon through the streets of East Jerusalem, which for the ultra-nationalists commemorates the reunification of the city in 1967 under Israeli sovereignty, while for the Palestinians it marks the beginning of the occupation in East Jerusalem, where part of the parade circulated.

sar-sga/tw

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