Israeli warplanes bomb an area in the Gaza Strip in the early hours of August 24, 2021(Via Twitter) 

Gaza City, August 24 (RHC)-- Israeli warplanes bombed Hamas sites in Gaza in recent hours, allegedly in response to incendiary balloons launched from the Palestinian enclave that caused brush fires in southern Israel, its military said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties in the air attacks that hit the southern Gaza Stip early Tuesday morning.  

In a statement, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that fighter jets attacked “a Hamas weapons manufacturing site in Khan Younis" as well as a tunnel entrance in Jabalya.

“A Hamas underground rocket launch site that is located adjacent to civilian homes and a school in Shujaiya, was also struck,” it added, saying “the strikes were in response to Hamas launching incendiary balloons into Israeli territory”.

Since an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire halted 11 days of Israel-Hamas fighting in May, Tel Aviv has violated the truce on numerous occations.  

Confronting Gaza protesters burning tyres and throwing explosives along the border on Saturday, Israeli troops shot and wounded 41 Palestinians, critically injuring two, medics said.

Days before Saturday’s violence, Gaza fighters launched a rocket towards Israel that was shot down by its Iron Dome anti-missile system in the first such rocket attack since the May 21st ceasefire.

More than 250 Palestinians, many of them civilians and children, and 13 Israelis were killed in the May conflict, during which Israel carried out devastating air raids across the coastal enclave, prompting Gaza fighters to fire rockets towards Israeli cities.

Israel keeps Gaza under blockade, tightly restricting movement out of the territory that is home to two million Palestinians.  Egypt also maintains restrictions on the enclave.  Both cite threats from Hamas for the restrictions.