Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes on the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Tuesday in response to incendiary balloons being fired from the Palestinian territory towards Israeli land. A security source in Gaza stated that Israeli aircraft fired several missiles at a training site belonging to the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, located east of Khan Younis in the southern part of the strip.
In the northern border area of the strip, an eyewitness reported that Israeli artillery fired at least one shell east of the Jabalia refugee camp. According to Palestinian medical sources, the airstrikes did not result in any injuries. The Israeli army confirmed in a statement that it conducted airstrikes targeting "a Hamas workshop for manufacturing rockets along with a military compound in Khan Younis containing a cement factory used for building terrorist tunnels."
The statement clarified that the airstrikes were "in response to the launch of incendiary balloons towards Israel," emphasizing that the Israeli state will continue to "respond forcefully to any terrorist attempts originating from the Gaza Strip." Incendiary balloons are tools used by Palestinian activists to ignite fires in the agricultural fields adjacent to the strip.
Hazem Qassem, a spokesperson for Hamas, stated in a declaration that "the Zionist bombardment of the Gaza Strip is an attempt by the occupation to cover up its incapacity and failure to confront our people's struggle, especially following the heroic operation in which six of our fighters freed themselves from Gilboa Prison."
Israeli security forces launched a wide operation on Monday to search for six Palestinian security detainees, including Zakaria Zubeidi, a former leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the military wing of Fatah, after they escaped from a prison in the north of the state via a tunnel they dug beneath a laundry, according to officials.
Israel holds Hamas responsible for any violations originating from the strip, which has been under a strict Israeli blockade for 15 years and is home to over two million people. On May 21, Israel and Hamas announced a ceasefire that ended an 11-day bloody escalation between the two parties, resulting in the deaths of 260 individuals on the Palestinian side, including 66 children and militants, while the Israeli side suffered the loss of 13 lives, including a child, a girl, and a soldier.
