Israeli Defense Forces jets struck several targets in Gaza late Sunday, hours after strip-fired balloons opened fire in southern Israel.
According to Hamas-affiliated al-Reslah, Israeli warplanes bombed areas west of Gaza City before attacking east of Khan Younis. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Palestinian media reported that in the midst of air strikes, militants fired machine guns at Israeli aircraft over the Gaza Strip.
On Sunday afternoon, Gaza-based terrorist groups launched incendiary balloons into southern Israel, causing several fires, a Fire and Rescue Services investigator determined.
In response to the arson attacks, Israel announced it was cutting the Gaza Strip’s fishing zone in half by 12 nautical miles, effective immediately and until further notice on Sunday night. Before the May conflict between Israel and Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza, Palestinian fishermen could operate up to 15 nautical miles from the coast.
“This follows the introduction of incendiary balloons from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory, which is a violation of Israeli sovereignty,” the coordinator of government activities in the regions, Israel’s military liaison for Palestinians, said in a statement.
According to the fire department, in the first arson attacks from the Gaza Strip since early July, three small brushfires were ignited in the Ashkol region of southern Israel.
“A fire investigator from the Southern District Fire and Rescue Services found that the fire was caused by the launch of incendiary balloons,” a fire department spokesman said. No casualties or damage to property were reported.
COGAT said in its statement that the attacks were ultimately the responsibility of the Hamas terrorist group, the de facto rulers of the strip.
Bonfires are lit in southern Israel, allegedly by incendiary balloons launched by Gaza-based terrorist groups, on July 25, 2021. (Moshe Brocchi)
Hamas has warned that if Israel tries to reimpose sanctions on the Gaza Strip, it will start fighting again. The coastal region has seen tighter-than-usual controls since the 11-day conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Earlier on Sunday, Israeli officials 25 trucks with Qatar-funded fuel blocked from entering Gaza Strip. An Israeli defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, cited a failure by Palestinian Authority officials in Gaza to coordinate with them.
PA officials in Gaza rejected the claim, saying the United Nations and Qatar were directly responsible for coordinating with the Israeli side. The UN and Qatar’s Gaza envoy’s office both declined to comment.
“Further sanctions on Gaza will only generate an explosion in the front of the occupation,” Hamas spokesman Abd al-Latif al-Kano told official Hamas radio on Sunday evening.
An Israeli defense official said Sunday night that the fuel was expected to enter the Gaza Strip on Monday, but “nothing was set in stone.”
Supporters of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group prepare balloon-incendiary devices to be launched toward Israel, east of Gaza City, on June 15, 2021. (Atiya Mohamed/Flash 90)
Israel regularly conducts air strikes against Hamas targets in Gaza following incendiary balloon attacks. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has said repeatedly that he will not allow such incidents to happen without a response.
After such attacks in early July, Bennett told the cabinet, “Israel is interested in peace and has no interest in harming Gaza residents, but violence … will be given a strong response.”
During the war, Israeli airstrikes and Palestinian rockets caused at least $290 million in damage to the Gaza Strip, international appraisers reported in early July.
Israel and Hamas are holding indirect talks in Cairo in an effort to strengthen the fragile ceasefire between the two sides. Israeli officials have said they will allow Gaza to rebuild and ease increased sanctions on reaching a prisoner exchange with Hamas, which will lead to the return of Evra Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, and the return of IDF soldiers Haider Goldin and Oron Shawl. Secures the bodies of those killed in the 2014 battle.