![A Palestinian protester throws a burning projectile during a demonstration east of Gaza City near Israel on Tuesday as Israeli ultranationalists marched in Jerusalem’s Old City [Mahmud Hams/AFP]](https://www.theghanareport.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Dd.jpg)
Israel strikes in Gaza after fire balloons launched
Israel says it carried out airstrikes in Gaza overnight after Palestinians launched incendiary balloons from the territory, in the first major flare-up since an 11-day conflict last month.
The Israeli military said it targeted compounds belonging to Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza.
The incendiary balloons sparked 20 fires in southern Israel on Tuesday.
Hamas said they were a response to a march by Israeli nationalists in occupied East Jerusalem.
There were no casualties on either side and calm had been restored by Wednesday morning.
What do we know about the strikes?
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its fighter jets had hit military compounds operated by Hamas in Khan Younis and Gaza City.
It said “terrorist activity” took place in the compounds, and that the IDF was “prepared for all scenarios, including the resumption of hostilities, in the face of continued terror acts from the Gaza Strip”.
A Hamas spokesman said on Twitter that Palestinians would continue to pursue their “brave resistance and defend their rights and sacred sites” in Jerusalem.
The IDF said the strikes were carried out in response to the “arson balloons launched from Gaza into Israel” on Tuesday.
In recent years, militants have frequently sent helium balloons and kites carrying containers of burning fuel and explosive devices over the Gaza border.
The devices have caused hundreds of fires in Israel, burning thousands of hectares of forest and farmland.
The airstrikes were the first carried out under Israel’s new government, which took office on Sunday, ending Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12 years in power.
Naftali Bennett, the new prime minister, is a right-wing nationalist who heads a coalition of eight parties spanning the entire spectrum of Israeli politics.