Israel strikes Gaza in response to arson balloons

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Saturday that the air force carried out strikes in the Gaza Strip which came in response to continued launches of arson balloons from the coastal enclave into the Jewish state.

The Israeli fighter jets struck a military compound and rocket launching site of the Palestinian Islamic Hamas Movement, which controls the Gaza Strip, Xinhua news agency quoted the IDF as saying.

"The rocket launching site was in a civilian area, once again emphasizing how Hamas endangers Palestinian civilians," the IDF said, vowing to continue to respond as necessary to Hamas activities emanating from Gaza.

Israel's state-owned Kan TV news reported that the incendiary balloons caused four forest fires in the country's area close to the Gaza Strip.

Earlier on Friday, the IDF said it had fired artillery shells at targets in southern Lebanon in response to Beirut's firing of more than 10 rockets into Israeli territory.

Most of the rockets were intercepted by Israel's anti-rocket Iron Dome defence system, and the rest landed in open areas.

The rockets, fired at the Israel-occupied Golan Heights and the Galilee Panhandle area in northern Israel, did not cause casualties.