IDF fires at balloon launching cells in Gaza; 4 said wounded

IDF aircraft fired on Palestinian operatives launching incendiary balloons into Israel on Sunday, the military said.

The IDF also said it struck a vehicle that was being used by a second cell in the northern Gaza Strip to launch the balloons.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry said four people were injured in an Israeli attack on the northern Gaza Strip.

Firefighters on Sunday worked to extinguish a blaze caused by an incendiary balloon near Kibbutz Nir Am adjacent to the Gaza Strip, a spokesman for the Israeli Fire and Rescue Services said.

The incidents came shortly before a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, in which ministers were set to consider an Egyptian-backed truce plan for the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military has been steadily escalating its strikes in recent days against the ongoing incendiary balloon attacks.

The army struck a balloon-launching cell east of the city of Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday. There were no reports of injuries.

The airstrikes come amid reports that Israel and the Strip’s Hamas rulers are considering a long-term ceasefire deal brokered by UN peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov and Egypt.

Since March 30, southern Israel has experienced hundreds of fires as a result of incendiary kites and balloons flown over the border by Palestinians in Gaza. Over 7,000 acres of land have been burned, causing millions of shekels in damages, according to Israeli officials.

Recently, balloons have been found farther and farther from the Gaza Strip, including as far away as the southern city of Beersheba.

Israel has struggled to counter the arson assault, and has in some cases fired at Palestinians preparing to launch incendiaries, killing or injuring those involved.

Also on Saturday, the Hamas-run health ministry said that a 15-year-old Palestinian died of his wounds hours after being shot in the stomach by Israeli soldiers during clashes at the border on Friday.

Several Palestinians breached the border fence during the day’s large protests.

The army said some 8,000 people took part in the protests at five sites along the border. It said the army responded with riot disposal means and live fire in accordance with appropriate rules of engagement.

In one incident several Palestinians crossed the border fence, entered Israeli territory at the Kerem Shalom crossing, and threw fire bombs and stones before fleeing back into Gaza. “In response an IDF tank shelled a post belonging to the Hamas terror group,” the army said.

Friday’s protests were held in memory of Mohammad Tareq, a Palestinian terrorist who murdered an Israeli man, Yotam Ovadia, in a terror attack in the West Bank in July.

Organizers urged Gazans to attend Friday’s protests “in order to convey a message that Palestinians will not surrender to the dictates of Israeli terrorism until the siege is lifted,” the Haaretz daily reported.

For over three months, there have been near-weekly, violent protests along the Israel-Gaza border organized by Gaza’s Hamas rulers, leading to the most serious escalation between the two sides since the 2014 war.

The deadly clashes have seen Israeli security forces facing gunfire, grenades, Molotov cocktails and efforts — sometimes successful — to damage or penetrate the border fence. Last month, one Israeli soldier was killed by a sniper.

According to the Gaza health ministry, 157 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the “March of Return” protests on March 30. Hamas has acknowledged that dozens of those killed were its members.