Israel launches airstrikes at Gaza in response to incendiary balloons

Israel Airstrike in Gaza

JERUSALEM, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Israel's military said on Thursday that it carried out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip in response to the launch of balloons carrying incendiary devices from the Palestinian enclave.

An Israeli military spokesperson said in a statement that a fighter jet and an aircraft struck an infrastructure in northern Gaza Strip used for "underground activities" by Hamas, the Islamist Palestinian movement that runs Gaza.

The attack was a response to "explosive balloons" that were launched from the Gaza Strip towards southern Israeli during the say, according to the spokesperson.

Israel's Hebrew-language media reported that at least three brush fires were ignited on Thursday by the so-called incendiary balloons launched from Gaza.

The Gaza Strip has been under Israeli and Egyptian blockade since 2007, with occasional tensions rising between Israel and the militants in the coastal Palestinian enclave.