Hamas security sources reported that a training area was hit. Initially, nothing was known about the injured.
According to the Israeli fire brigade, incendiary devices attached to balloons triggered four fires on Thursday in the southern Israeli region of Ehkol on the border with the Gaza Strip. The fires were therefore “small and harmless” and could be brought under control quickly.
The Israeli air force last carried out retaliatory attacks in the Gaza Strip in mid-June. At that time, too, militant Palestinians had previously sent fire balloons to Israel. It was the first Israeli air strikes in Gaza since the end of eleven days of rocket bombardment between Israel and Hamas in May.
Israel’s conflict with Hamas escalated on May 10 when the Palestinian Organization fired massive rockets at Israel in response to clashes between Palestinians and police in East Jerusalem. By the time a ceasefire brokered by Egypt came into effect on May 21, 260 Palestinians had been killed. The rocket attacks on Israel resulted in 13 deaths during this period.
