The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on the night of Friday, June 18, launched a series of airstrikes against targets of the Hamas terrorist group in the Gaza Strip, in response to the Palestinian launching of balloons filled with explosives. This was reported on the page of the Israel Defense Forces in the social network Twitter.
For their part, Hamas representatives told AFP that in response they fired machine guns at Israeli settlements on the border with the Gaza Strip.
Breaking the truce in the Middle East
Over the past few days, Hamas has several times launched bundles of balloons with explosives attached to Israel from the territory of the Gaza Strip towards Israel. These attacks have caused numerous fires in Israel. In turn, the AFP agency indicates that the attacks from the Gaza Strip were preceded by speeches by ultra-right Israelis in Jerusalem.
The first aerial bombardment of targets in the Gaza Strip since the conclusion of the armistice was launched by the Israeli military on the night of June 16. According to the Israel Defense Forces, this operation was also a reaction to the launching of balloons with explosives by the Palestinians in the direction of Israel.
Aggravation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict escalated on May 10. On that day, Hamas fired massive rockets at Israel in response to clashes between Palestinians and police in East Jerusalem. On May 21, an armistice agreement entered into force, which the parties managed to conclude with the mediation of Egypt. By this time, 13 Israelis and 260 Palestinians have become victims of the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.
On June 17, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken held talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, during which he stressed that relations between Israelis and Palestinians “need practical improvement.”
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