[News] Israel bombards Gaza for second night following incendiary balloon launches

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-bombards-gaza-second-night-row-following-balloon-launches
Israel
bombards Gaza for second night following incendiary balloon launchesJune
18, 2021
------------------------------

Israeli army says it retaliated after incendiary balloons launched from
Gaza started fires in Israel

General view of Gaza City, on 18 June 2021 (AFP)

Published date: 18 June 2021 07:19 UTC | Last update: 5 hours 52 mins ago

Israel bombarded the Gaza Strip overnight on Thursday after incendiary
balloons were launched from the territory into Israel, according to the
Israeli army and AFP journalists.

Following a first wave of fire balloons which sparked blazes in Israel on
Tuesday, the army launched a series of attack on the besieged enclave in
the early hours of Wednesday.

As Palestinians continued to launch balloons, a second round of air strikes
hit the strip overnight Thursday to Friday.

So far the number of casualties, if any, is unclear.

The fighting threatens a fragile ceasefire established between Israel and
Gaza's Hamas rulers that came into place on 21 May which ended 11 days of
violence.

Soon after the Thursday strikes, Hamas opened fire with heavy machines guns
towards Israel.

In a statement, the Israeli army said they had "struck military compounds
and a rocket launch site" belonging to Hamas, in response to the balloon
launches.

They said they hit sites in Gaza City and in Khan Younis, in the south of
Gaza. AFP reporters confirmed hearing loud explosions.

The enclave, which has been besieged since 2007, is home to around 2
million people and is one of the most densely-populated regions in the
world.

Israeli air strikes on Gaza in May killed 248 Palestinians, including 66
children, while Palestinian rockets killed 13 in Israel, including two
children.

A further 29 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the occupied West
Bank and East Jerusalem, as protests broke out over the eviction of
families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood and Israeli actions in al-Aqsa
Mosque.

The latest attacks on Gaza also mark the first of such actions taken by
Israel's new government, a disparate coalition of political parties led by
far-right politician Naftali Bennett.

Late on Thursday, Israel army chief Aviv Kohavi issued orders to "increase
the IDF's (Israeli army) readiness and preparedness for a variety of
scenarios including a resumption of hostilities.

"The IDF will continue to strike military capabilities and infrastructure
belonging to the terror organisation, and holds Hamas as responsible for
all events transpiring in the Gaza Strip," the Israeli army statement said.
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