The Israel Air Force once again attacked terror targets in Gaza Saturday night in response to the ongoing IED balloon bombs as well as the latest escalation by Hamas, with the addition of renewed riots this evening along Gaza’s border with southern Israel.
Palestinian rioters in Gaza hurled explosives & attempted to approach the security fence into Israel tonight. This is after explosive balloons were launched from Gaza into Israel today.
In response, we just struck Hamas military targets in Gaza.
We hold Hamas accountable.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF)
An IDF spokesperson said in a statement late Saturday night that a short time earlier, IDF fighter jets and aircraft attacked a number of Hamas terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip.
“A military compound and underground infrastructure of the Hamas terrorist organization were attacked,” the IDF spokesperson said. The attack was carried out in response to the launching of explosive and incendiary balloons from Gaza into Israeli territory, and in response to disturbances at the border security fence.
“The IDF considers all terrorist activity against Israeli territory to be very serious and will continue to act as necessary against attempts to harm the citizens of the State of Israel and to violate its sovereignty,” the IDF spokesperson said.
“The terrorist organization Hamas bears responsibility for what is happening in and out of the Gaza Strip, and will bear the consequences of terrorist acts against Israeli citizens.”
Hamas-led rioters began to gather along the border at around 9:30 pm, with rioting beginning as scheduled a few minutes before 10 pm, accompanied by burning tires and loud explosions caused by “gas grenades.”
The explosions were intended to frighten and disturb the sleep of the Jewish civilians in the nearby Israeli communities, as Israeli community leaders reassured their anxious residents a short time later.
“Good evening Sdot Negev residents,” wrote a local Regional Council director in the text message sent region wide to area residents. “In recent hours, the sounds of explosions that have been heard are a result of internal explosions in the Gaza Strip.
“These are military explosives being set off specifically to disturb our peace; there is no danger and there is no change in our security guidelines. We will keep you updated if there are any developments. We wish you a good and quiet week.”
The IDF also struck a Hamas naval compound, underground infrastructure and a number of military observation posts on Friday night in response to the 21 wildfires that broke out during the day near the southern border with Gaza due to the arson balloons launched by the terrorists.
Israel’s National Fire and Rescue Services reported that some of the fires were small. However, some were not, and agricultural fields and farming equipment in local kibbutzim were destroyed as a result.