Israeli warplanes bombed the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip overnight after Palestinians fired a rocket into southern Israel, the army said.
The latest exchange came as Israel warned Hamas it was risking “war” by failing to stop fire balloons being launched across the border.
Egyptian security officials shuttled between the two sides in a bid to end the flare-up, which has seen more than a week of rocket and fire balloon attacks from Gaza and nightly Israeli reprisals.
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“Earlier tonight, a rocket was fired and during the day, explosive and arson balloons were launched from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory,” said a military statement released by Israel. In response, “fighter jets and (other) aircraft struck Hamas military targets in Gaza”.
“During the strike, a military compound belonging to one of the special arrays of the Hamas terror organisation was struck,” the statement added. There were no reports from Gaza of casualties.
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In Gaza city on Wednesday, demonstrators burned Israeli flags and pictures of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in protest at last week’s announcement that the United Arab Emirates was normalising relations with the Jewish state.
Many Palestinians saw the move as a betrayal of their cause by the Gulf country.
Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it would not follow the UAE in establishing diplomatic ties with Israel until the Jewish state had signed an internationally recognised peace accord with the Palestinians.
Marchers carried placards reading, “Palestine is not for sale, down with the deal of shame.”
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“We reject normalisation from any country and from any regime,” senior Hamas official Khalil al-Haya said during the protest.
In response to the persistent balloon launches, Israel has banned fishing off Gaza’s coast and closed the Kerem Shalom goods crossing, cutting off deliveries of fuel to the territory’s sole power plant.
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Power had been in short supply even before the shutdown, with consumers having access to electricity for only eight hours a day. That will now be cut to just four hours a day using power supplied from the Israeli grid.
