JNS
The strikes followed the third straight day of fires sparked in southern Israel by incendiary devices launched from the Gaza Strip.
Israeli warplanes struck Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Saturday in response to the launch of airborne incendiary devices into Israeli territory, the Israeli military reported.
The strikes targeted a weapons-manufacturing facility and a rocket-launching site, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
During the Israeli attack, small-arms fire was directed from Gaza at nearby Israeli towns and settlements, according to Kan News.
Saturday was the third day in a row that arson balloons launched from Gaza sparked fires in the western Negev, according to Hebrew media. The fires were quickly extinguished by firefighters, aided by Jewish National Fund-Keren Kayemeth LeYisrael, which maintains its own firefighting services.
The fires were the first since mid-June, when incendiary devices launched from Gaza ignited a total of 26 conflagrations in southern Israel. Hamas claimed it had launched the June attack in response to the Jerusalem Day flag march in Jerusalem on June 15. In response, the Israeli Air Force attacked Hamas targets in Gaza.
On June 20, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, speaking at a memorial service for the soldiers who fell during 2014’s “Operation Protective Edge,” warned Hamas that Israel’s “patience has run out.”
“Our enemies will have to learn the rules: We will not suffer violence, will not tolerate ‘trickles’ [of attacks], will not countenance or be understanding of incitement,” he said.
Caption: The buildings highlighted in red are part of what the Israeli military says was a Hamas weapons-manufacturing facility in the Gaza Strip targeted by an Israeli airstrike on July 3, 2021. Source: IDF.
