Israeli aircraft struck a Hamas rocket launcher and weapons factory in the Gaza Strip overnight in response to incendiary balloons that were launched towards southern Israel from the enclave throughout the weekend.
“The strikes were made in response to the arson balloons fired towards Israeli territory. The IDF will continue to respond firmly against terror attempts from the Gaza Strip,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement.
During the strikes, machine guns were fired towards Israel but did not set off any alarms, the military said.
There were no reports of any injuries in the strikes or from the machine-gun fire.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said “I would like to clarify again: Things have changed. Israel wants quiet and we have no desire to harm the people of Gaza. However, violence – balloons, marches, harassment of any kind – will be met with a severe response.”
Israel is “also working on a solution that will allow humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza but without suitcases full of dollars,” he said. Allowing for the transfer of “suitcases full of dollars [is] something we inherited” from the previous government “and they need to be done away with,” Bennett added.
Jerusalem has been blocking the transfer of Qatari money into the blockaded coastal enclave, but according to a report in the Palestinian al-Quds daily, the UN will now oversee the transfer of the funds.
According to the report, following talks between UN special envoy Tor Wennesland, Israeli and Qatari officials, Jerusalem has agreed to the new mechanism which will see the money transferred to banks belonging to the Palestinian Monetary Authority, instead of to local Gazan banks where the money could fall into the hands of Hamas.
Since the end of Operation Guardian of the Walls in May, dozens of incendiary and explosive balloons have been launched toward southern Israel. In return, the Israeli army has struck Hamas targets in Gaza.
Overnight on Thursday, Israeli jets struck a Hamas weapons factory in response to balloons that sparked at least four fires on Thursday.
Hamas has repeatedly warned that it would restart hostilities over any incidents in Jerusalem, while Israel has vowed that incendiary balloons would be treated like rocket attacks towards Israeli communities.
Tensions have been rising this week after Israel demolished a Palestinian shop in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan on Tuesday, triggering clashes between police and protesters who accused authorities of discriminatory enforcement of building permits in the holy city of Jerusalem.
A bulldozer escorted by Israeli police flattened a butcher shop in the neighborhood which is overlooked by Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest shrine in Islam and the most sensitive site in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.
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