Amid rising tensions, Israeli Air Force jets and other aircraft attacked several targets in the northern Gaza Strip early Sunday, including a military compound in the north of the Strip and two naval vessels belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization.
There was no immediate word on casualties from the strikes, which came after Palestinian terrorists in Gaza fired a rocket at the Eshkol region in southern Israel on Saturday night.
Palestinian media reported several Israeli strikes around 1:30 a.m. in the northern Strip near Beit Lahia, including on a seaside site known as al-Waha.
The IDF said the strikes were in response to the rocket attack, as well as "continuing terror activities from the Strip, including balloon explosives and causing harm to security infrastructure in the last several days.
"Hamas is responsible for everything that happens in and comes out of the Gaza Strip," the IDF said.
Also Saturday, sappers were summoned after a cluster of balloons suspected to be carrying an explosive device, possibly an anti-tank warhead, landed on the Israeli side of the border fence.
Meanwhile, residents of the Hof Ashkelon region north of Gaza said Saturday they found a spent bullet shell, possibly from a Kalashnikov rifle, in their living room, seemingly confirming that a large hole torn through an outside wall on Thursday had been caused by gunfire from Gaza.
On Friday, one Palestinian was killed and 42 were wounded while taking part in weekly riots along the Gaza border, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said.
The IDF said over 8,000 Palestinians took part in the demonstration, during which rocks and improvised explosives were thrown at soldiers on duty. Some of the rioters tried to breach the border fence.
An IDF spokesman said soldiers "responded with riot dispersal means and fired in accordance with standard operating procedures."
The IDF also said it detained two Palestinians shortly after they crossed the border from Gaza. They were hiding a grenade and a knife in their clothes, the military said.
Egyptian officials, who have frequently brokered cease-fires between Israel and Hamas, have been shuttling between the sides to try to restore calm, a Palestinian official told Reuters.
