The Israeli Air Force launched retaliatory strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza early Monday morning, following three separate rocket and mortar attacks from the terrorist-run enclave late Sunday night, the Israel Defense Forces said in a briefing.
The barrages continued on Monday morning with three rockets fired at southern Israel, two of which failed to cross the border—exploding in Gaza—and the third of which was intercepted by the Iron Dome air-defense system.
The rocket fire followed a series of incendiary balloon attacks from Gaza that set fields in southern Israel ablaze. Palestinians in Gaza resumed the balloon attacks on Monday morning. One of the balloons, which landed in a field in the community of Dorot in the Sha’ar HaNegev region, was suspected to be equipped with a bomb. Police sappers were called to the scene to remove the device, said a Sha’ar HaNegev spokesperson.