Israeli warplanes bombed several sites in the Gaza Strip
The fishing area of the Gazans was also shrunk
Jerusalem24 – Israeli warplanes launched a series of air raids, last night, targeting several locations in the Gaza Strip, two hours after announcing the reduction of the fishing area in the Gaza sea from 12 nautical miles to 6, starting at dawn today, while Israeli news websites reported three fires that broke out in areas around the Gaza Strip, as a result of incendiary balloons launched from the Strip.
The warplanes fired air-to-ground missiles at a site, east of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, causing massive damage to the site, but no injuries were reported.
The warplanes also raided another resistance site and agricultural land in the Sudania area, northeast of Gaza City, and several missiles were fired at them, causing severe damage to the site and neighboring houses.
Half an hour later, the planes returned and bombed the same sites again, using concussion bombs, causing vibrations felt by the residents of the areas near the bombing sites.
Resistance fighters fired heavy weapons at the planes, which flew extensively in the western and northern airspace of Gaza City, where bright shots were seen flying into the air, while the planes launched massive thermal balloons.
After that, the intense flying of warplanes and reconnaissance continued in the air, throughout the early hours of the dawn, which maintained a state of tension and anticipation, especially in the vicinity of the contact areas, while the Palestinian factions evacuated sites and observation points, in anticipation of new raids.
Identical sources confirmed to the Palestinian daily newspaper, Al-Ayyam, that groups of young men resumed launching balloons in a limited manner from areas east of the governorates of Khan Yunis and Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, as well as from the east of Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, east of Gaza City, in addition to the northern Gaza Strip.
Israeli websites stated that, Incendiary balloons were observed flying in the atmosphere of the Gaza envelope, but in limited numbers, and three fires were monitored in forests and agricultural areas in areas in “Eshkol” and “Sha’ar Hanegev.” The Israeli newspaper, Maariv reported on its website “after the security authorities’ investigations, it was confirmed that three fires broke out in the Gaza envelope due to incendiary balloons launched from the Strip, yesterday.”
Meanwhile, activists threatened to intensify the launching of balloons on a large scale from the Gaza Strip, if Israel did not respond to the efforts of mediators, stressing that the atmosphere in the current and future period is ideal, and in their favor, and if they intensify the launching of balloons, the fires in the area surrounding Gaza will continue around the clock.
Israel, has so far prevented the entry of Qatari grant funds, imposed strict restrictions and siege on the movement of goods at the Kerem Salem crossing, and prevented the arrival of dozens of goods, including raw materials necessary to operate the stalled factories.
The official of the Office of the Coordinator of Israeli Government Operations in the Palestinian Territories, Israeli Major General Ghassan Alyan, said that after a series of assessments of the situation, it was decided to reduce the fishing area in the Gaza Strip from 12 to 6 nautical miles until further notice, due to the launching of incendiary balloons.
Meanwhile, the captain of the fishermen in the Gaza Strip, Nizar Ayyash, confirmed that they were officially informed of the decision to reduce the fishing area in the Gaza sea to only six miles.
During the late night hours, Israeli boats and warships began chasing the fishing boats, expelling them from the sea, and pushing them to fish at a distance of less than six nautical miles.
