Israeli aircraft bomb Gaza Strip for 2nd time in 24 hours

As Reported by Qods News Agency (Qodsna) The Israeli military said in a statement that a combat helicopter attacked infrastructure used for by the Hamas resistance movement late on Thursday. No immediate reports of casualties in the aerial assaults were available.

The statement added that the attack was conducted after two balloons with explosives were flown from the Gaza Strip into Israeli-occupied territories earlier in the day.

طائرات الاحتلال نقصف موقعا للمقاومة شمال القطاع https://t.co/oZnvKZ1gIr #safa

— وکالة صفا (@SafaPs) January 16, 2020

Video published by Israel’s Kan news network purported to show Hamas members leaving a post ahead of the strike.

Israeli police said at least two clusters of balloons carrying explosive devices were launched from the Strip into the southern sector of Israeli-occupied territories earlier in the day.

One of the clusters apparently landed in an open field and the other got tangled in a tree. Sappers were called to the scenes in the Sdot Negev region east of Gaza.

One of the devices purportedly went off as the sappers arrived at the scene. The explosion caused no injuries or damage.

Late on Wednesday, Israeli warplanes carried out several airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, targeting a number of areas in the north and the northwest of the coastal enclave. 

Palestinian media reported that one of the airstrikes targeted a Hamas position. The attack caused an explosion and material damage to nearby buildings.

Another attack targeted areas in Jabalia and Beit Lahia in Gaza’s north.

Since 2008, Israel has waged three wars against Gaza, where about two million Palestinians live under a 12-year Israeli blockade. Thousands of Gazans have been killed in each of these deadly wars.