Israeli fighter jets partake in a chain of air raids on the Gaza Strip for the second time since a ceasefire concluded last month’s 11-day conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Palestinian informants held that the Israeli missiles on Thursday targeted several sites belonging to armed groups located northwest of Gaza City and north of Beit Lahia in the besieged territory.
A civil administration building east of Jabaliya in the north was also destroyed, in addition to an agricultural field east of the southern town of Khan Younis. No fatalities were reported thus far.
Subsequent the air attacks, Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesperson for Hamas, alleged in a proclamation that “the occupation’s bombing of the resistance sites is a demonstrative show by the new Israeli government,” in reference to the new administration that was ratified on Sunday by Israel’s parliament, in which right-wing nationalist Naftali Bennett was sworn in as Prime Minister. “The resistance will be on the lookout in defense of our people, our people and our holy sites,” the statement added.
A Hamas-owned news agency reported that an Israeli drone was downed west of Gaza City.
There have also been accounts of Hamas firing bullets with heavy machine guns towards Israel, provoking air raid sirens to ring out.
Israeli media has stated that the army which attacked Hamas focused inside the Gaza Strip in reaction to the sustained launching of inflammable balloons by activists within the territory.
In a statement, the Israeli army said it will “continue to destroy Hamas’ military capabilities and structures and hold it responsible for what is happening in the Gaza Strip.”
The latest strike is the second to take place since the first breaking of the ceasefire two days earlier. Israel is said to have launched the air raid on the Gaza Strip after Palestinian groups in the besieged enclave sent incendiary balloons into agricultural lands around the Strip.
