The Israel Defense Forces fired on a Hamas a weapon manufacturing facility and a rocket launcher in Gaza on Saturday in retaliation for incendiary balloons flown from Gaza into southern Israel, which sparked fired in agricultural fields.
“Israel is interested in quiet and we have no interest in harming the residents of Gaza; however, violence, balloons, marches and harassment will be met with a sharp response,” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Sunday at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting.
It is the second time in less than a week that Israel has fired on Hamas positions in Gaza in response to the arson balloons.
Also on Saturday, Israeli troops trying to disperse protesters in a West Bank Palestinian village who were clashing with Israeli settlers, shot and killed a Palestinian man who allegedly threw an explosive at them from the roof of a nearby building.
The soldiers fired at the man to “remove the danger” to Israeli troops, the IDF said in a statement.