Israeli military raids with Fighter jets, fires rockets at Gaza over incendiary balloons

Israeli military says it fired rockets at Gaza over incendiary balloons

Israeli forces said on Wednesday morning that they used fighter jets to attack the coalition in Gaza after officials said Hamas had sent blazing balloons to Israel - the first such violence since the conflict ended two months ago and ended 11 days of fighting.

"A short time ago, fighter jets attacked Hamas military bases, which were used as camps and terrorist rallies in the provinces of Khan Yunis and Gaza," a spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces said in a tweet on Wednesday, according to the translation. "Terrorist activities have taken place inside chemicals."

The military claimed that the attack took place after people were shot dead on their way to Israel.

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"The IDF is ready for all situations, including renewed hostilities, in the continuation of terrorist attacks from [Hamas]," the IDF tweeted.
This comes after hundreds of Israeli citizens, some of whom chanted "Death of the Arabs," marched east of Jerusalem on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. Palestinians in Gaza have responded by introducing burning balloons, which often carry Molotoov cocktails or other burning objects to the tops, which have caused at least ten fires in southern Israel, reports the AP.

Media reports from the region did not indicate any casualties in the plane crashes. Palestinians thought the march was tedious, but Hamas urged Palestinians to "fight" the protest so that they would not hold another battle, according to the AP.

The protests and raids come after a coalition that was expected to convene to oust former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu twelve years in a row, and three years earlier - a former national leader.
Following the swearing-in of the new government earlier this month, Netanyahu and his right-wing Likud moved to opposition parties for the first time in more than a decade.

Naphtali Bennett, a former defense minister and former right-wing leader, will serve as the next Prime Minister, holding the first two-year term in office. He will then hand over the role to Jair Lapid, the leader of the centrist faction Yesh Atid.