GAZA — Israeli aircraft struck Hamas sites in
Gaza on Wednesday after incendiary balloons were launched from the Palestinian
enclave in the first such attacks since the end of 11 days of cross-border
fighting last month.
اضافة اعلان
The overnight airstrikes gave way to calm by morning, and
there were no reports of casualties on either side.
The flare-up, a first test for Israel's new government,
followed a march in occupied East Jerusalem on Tuesday by Jewish nationalists
that had drawn threats of action by Hamas, the ruling group in Gaza.
The Israeli military said its aircraft “attacked Hamas armed
compounds” in Gaza City and the southern town of Khan Younis and was
"ready for all scenarios, including renewed fighting in the face of
continued terrorist acts emanating from Gaza."
The strikes, the military said, came in response to the
launching of balloons laden with incendiary material, which the Israeli fire
brigade reported caused 20 blazes in open fields near the Gaza border.
A Hamas spokesman, confirming the Israeli attacks, said
Palestinians would continue to pursue their "brave resistance and defend
their rights and sacred sites" in Jerusalem.
Hours earlier, thousands of flag-waving Israelis congregated
around the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem's Old City before heading to Judaism's
holy Western Wall, drawing Palestinian anger and condemnation.
Israel, which occupied East Jerusalem in a 1967 war and
later annexed it in a move that has not won international recognition, regards
the entire city as its capital. Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the
capital of a future state that would include the West Bank and Gaza.
Prior to Tuesday's march, Israel beefed up its deployment of
the Iron Dome anti-missile system in anticipation of possible rocket attacks
from Gaza.
But as the marchers began to disperse after nightfall in
Jerusalem, there was no sign of rocket fire from the enclave.
The procession was originally scheduled for May 10 as part
of "Jerusalem Day" festivities that celebrate Israel's capture of
East Jerusalem.
At the last minute, that march was diverted away from the
Damascus Gate and the Old City's Muslim Quarter, but the move was not enough to
dissuade Hamas from firing rockets towards Jerusalem, attacks that set off last
month's round of fighting.
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