Israel launches airstrikes on besieged Gaza

The Israeli air force launched airstrikes on the Gaza Strip early Wednesday after balloons from the besieged enclave were sent into southern Israel, security sources and witnesses said.

Local Palestinian radio stations said that the occupation warplanes bombed several Hamas sites in the Ma'an area, south of Khan Yunis.
 
According to Israel's Channel 12, Israel had threatened Hamas with a harsh response to the launching of balloons from the Gaza Strip.

The channel added that the new Israeli government sent a message to the Egyptian mediators, that the response to the incendiary balloons launched by Hamas will be after the end of the flags march in Jerusalem.

No injuries were reported.

The airstrikes and balloons marked the first major flare-up between Israel and Gaza since a ceasefire on May 21 ended 11 days of heavy fighting that killed 260 Palestinians, according to Gaza authorities, and 13 people in Israel, the police and army there said.

Agencies contributed to this report.