Israeli warplanes struck dozens of Hamas targets in Gaza early Wednesday in response to a barrage of rockets fired by Palestinian militants into southern Israel, military officials said. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had targeted about 25 Hamas positions overnight in response to the heavy fire, which began late Tuesday, the Associated Press reported. Just before the airstrikes, Palestinians had fired about 45 rockets and mortars at Israel, seven of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system, the IDF said. At least three other projectiles fell short and landed inside Gaza, the military added. No casualties were reported in Israel or Gaza. The rocket attacks by Palestinian militants came just hours after Israel said it had attacked Hamas infrastructure in response to “arson balloons” launched from Gaza into Israel. Hamas did not claim responsibility for the rocket attacks but said they were “a legitimate right that bombing is met with bombing.” The rocket fire into Israel was “proof that the forces of resistance are the ones setting the rules of the game,” group spokesman Fawzi Barhoum, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Israel has been hit repeatedly with kites and balloons rigged with burning rags or incendiary devices, which have started fires that have burned forests and destroyed cropland. Palestinian militants are launching the makeshift weapons as a part of mass rallies along Israel’s border to protest the joint Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza. The kite and balloon attacks began in mid-May amid Palestinian protests timed to coincide with the opening of the new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. The launches become more frequent in recent days, however, and communities in southern Israel are putting more pressure on the military to stop them. Although the Israeli military has largely targeted infrastructure next to the balloon launch sites, it “will not tolerate” the daily attacks on its territory, IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said, according to the AP. Wednesday’s exchange of fire appeared to be the heaviest since May 29, when Israel carried out over 35 airstrikes on seven sites across Gaza, including a cross-border tunnel controlled by Hamas and Islamic Jihad — the two primary militant groups in the Palestinian enclave. Immediately prior to those airstrikes, Palestinian militants had launched roughly 70 projectiles toward southern Israel. (RELATED: Israel Responds To Hamas Mortar Barrage With Airstrikes In Gaza Strip) The hostile atmosphere along the Israel-Gaza border has sparked fears that low-intensity violence will explode into a larger war like the one between Israel and Hamas in 2014. That conflict killed hundreds of civilians and devastated much of Gaza’s already decrepit infrastructure. Follow Will on Twitter Send tips to will@dailycallernewsfoundation.org. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.<doc-sep>Three rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip toward Israel early Monday morning, one of which landed in the Gaza Strip, according to the IDF spokesperson.Several rounds of red alert sirens were heard in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council, the Ashkelon industrial zone, Kibbutz Yad Mordechai and Netiv Ha'asara.In response to the rockets, IAF fighter jets struck 9 military targets in two military compounds and in a munition manufacturing site belonging to the Hamas terror organization in the northern Gaza Strip. "These are terrorist acts that endanger Israeli residents living in southern Israel and damage extensive areas in Israeli territory," the IDF spokesperson commented. "We have fired warning shots against groups who were responsible for the arson and destruction in Israel, and have carried out attacks against infrastructure used by these groups. The IDF's intelligence and operational capabilities will allow it to increase these strikes as necessary. We are determined to continue to act with increasing intensity against these acts of terror as long as required, using the variety of tools at its disposal. "On Sunday, an Israeli aircraft fired at a group of Palestinians who were launching arson balloons in the southern Gaza Strip as well as at infrastructure from which the group had been operating and a vehicle they had been using. "The Hamas terror organization is accountable for all violence emanating from the Gaza Strip and it will bear the consequences," the IDF spokesperson emphasized.Over the last few weeks, extensive damage to farmland surrounding the Gaza Strip was caused by arson balloons and incendiary kites sent from within the coastal enclave.On Sunday alone, 21 fires broke out in the Kissufim and Be'eri Forest and caused extensive damage to flora and fauna, according to the KKL-JNF.<doc-sep>
The Israeli military said Monday that it had attacked nine Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, including military compounds and weapons production facilities, late Sunday night. Three rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip toward Israel early on Monday morning, with one of them landing in the Gaza Strip, shortly afterward. Credit: דובר צה"ל The IDF Spokesperson's Office said that the attack was carried out in response to the firing of kites and explosive devices into Israel, as well as to an attempt to infiltrate into Israel. "The IDF will act with growing determination against terrorist activities in all its different forms until they cease," the statement read. Around 5 A.M this morning, rocket alarm sirens were heard in Israeli communities near the Gaza border, including Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, and Netiv Ha'asara, Kibbutz Zikim, and Carmia. Open gallery view A fire that broke out in the wake of the attack in Gaza, early in the morning, on June 18, 2018 Credit: AFP/Mahmud Hams On Sunday, the IDF said it had struck a car used by a group of Palestinians who launched incindiery balloons from the southern Gaza Strip into Israel, the fourth such strike in a day. Meanwhile, some 17 fires broke out throughout the day in Gaza border communities, the Jewish National Fund said. Reports in Gaza said Israel attacked a Hamas target east of the Al-Bureij refugee camp in the center of the coastal enclave. No casualties were reported. The KKL-JNF reported Sunday 21 fires that broke out in Israel in areas surrounding the Gaza Strip, including Kissufim and the Be'eri Forest, and caused extensive damage to plants and animals. More than a thousand turkeys died in Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha after the fires.