Israeli fighter jets bomb areas across Gaza Strip

Israeli warplanes have carried out new airstrikes against the besieged Gaza Strip, bombarding the west and south of the enclave.

Israeli media said the fighter jets hit eight targets belonging to the Hamas resistance movement near the towns of Khan Younis and Rafah, besides other targets, early on Thursday morning. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The Israeli military claimed the strikes were carried out in response to a rocket fire from the besieged sliver. It said the projectile landed in an open field after the regime’s Iron Dome missile system failed to intercept it.

Earlier on Wednesday, Israel’s air force also struck an area in Gaza it claimed was used to launch “incendiary balloons” into the occupied territories.

Tel Aviv bombards Gaza from time to time, claiming the assaults are in response to rocket attacks of the resistance groups.

The Gaza Strip has been witnessing tensions since March 30, which marked the start of the “Great March of Return” protests demanding the right to return for the Palestinians driven out of their homeland.

Those tensions saw a sharp rise on May 14, marking the 70th anniversary of the Nakba Day (the Day of Catastrophe), which this year coincided with the US embassy relocation from Tel Aviv to occupied Jerusalem al-Quds.

More than 200 Palestinians have so far been killed and over 20,000 others wounded in the renewed Gaza clashes, according to the latest figures released by the Gaza Health Ministry.

The territory has been under an Israeli siege since June 2007. The blockade has caused a decline in living standards as well as unprecedented unemployment and poverty.