Incendiary balloons launched cause fires to break out around Gaza
Jerusalem24 – Activists and demonstrators launched waves of incendiary and explosive balloons from all areas of the eastern and northern Gaza Strip yesterday evening and night, and the Israeli media announced the outbreak of a number of fires in agricultural areas in the Gaza envelope.
Identical sources confirmed to the Palestinian daily newspaper, Al-Ayyam, that groups of young men continued to launch balloons to a limited extent from areas East of the governorates of Khan Yunis and Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, as well as from the East of the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, and East of Gaza City, in addition to launching bundles of incendiary balloons from the northern Gaza Strip.
Some balloons launched by activists carried pictures of the six prisoners who managed to escape from Gilboa prison yesterday morning, while other balloons carried phrases that threatened to escalate launching balloons in the coming period.
Meanwhile, activists from the five groups specialized in launching balloons threatened to resume launching them on a large scale from the Gaza Strip, if Israel did not respond to the efforts of mediators and lift the siege, stressing that the atmosphere in the current and future period is still ideal, and in their favor, and if they intensify the launching of balloons, the fires will continue in the areas surrounding Gaza around the clock.
The Israeli media had said that the number of fires in the Gaza envelope had risen since the morning hours to four, in addition to hearing the sounds of explosions, which were caused by the launching of explosive balloons.
The launching of the balloons was followed by the strengthening of the Israeli army’s spread within the demarcation line, especially off the central and southern areas of the Gaza Strip, where sniper units intensified their deployment along the demarcation line, in conjunction with an active movement of armored vehicles and tanks.
It is noteworthy that the launching of balloons began with a warning last Saturday afternoon, and most of them were launched without flaming wicks, but since yesterday, activists began protecting some balloons with fuses, which caused a limited number of fires to erupt in the Gaza envelope.