Days after ceasefire, Israel strikes Gaza in response to arson balloons

Palestinian Territories, June 16: The Israeli Air Force launched airstrikes on the Gaza Strip early Wednesday, reports say. The strikes were launched after Palestinian militants send incendiary balloons into southern Israel.

This is the first major flare up since the ceasefire on May 21 which had ended 11 days of heavy fighting in which 260 Palestinians were killed.

AFP reported that the Israeli Air Force targeted at least one site east of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younes. The Israeli Defence Force said that in response to the arson balloons, its fighter jets struck military compounds belonging to the Hamas terror group.

It also said that facilities and meeting sites for terror operatives in Khan Younes were targeted in the strike.

Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas had agreed to a ceasefire, bringing to an end 11 days of bombardment, the heaviest flare-up since the 2014 Gaza War, that had left over 240 people dead and threatened to destabilise the volatile region.

The ceasefire, which followed mounting pressure from the US, Egypt and other international brokers to halt the violence.

The Israeli Security Cabinet voted to accept the ceasefire as the Israeli south and Gaza remain inflamed.