MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th August, 2020) The Israeli air force and tanks once again stroke facilities of the Hamas Islamist movement in the Gaza Strip after several explosive balloons had been launched from the Palestinian enclave, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.
Israel has faced a series of balloon attacks from the Gaza Strip this week and responded with airstrikes several times in previous days. On Tuesday, Israel closed the Kerem Shalom checkpoint on the border with the enclave, allowing only deliveries of humanitarian cargo and fuel through it. On Thursday, Israel also decided to stop fuel deliveries to the enclave.
"As families in southern Israel enjoyed the weekend, a few miles away in Gaza, terrorists launched explosive balloons at them. In response, we just struck a Hamas naval compound, underground infrastructure & observation posts. We won't let Hamas terrorize Israeli civilians," the IDF wrote on its Twitter page on late Friday.
Hamas, a Palestinian Sunni militant organization in control of the Gaza Strip, has been locked in a protracted on-and-off conflict with Israel, which still refuses to recognize Palestine as an independent political and diplomatic entity. Israel holds Hamas responsible for any attack coming from the Gaza Strip.
