Tensions along the Gaza border escalated on Thursday when Israeli warplanes responded to a mortar shell fired at southern Israel with a strike on a Hamas naval commando base.
“Fighter jets and aircraft struck several military targets in a Hamas compound in the southern Gaza Strip,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement on Thursday.
Palestinian media reported that the site, northwest of Khan Yunis, was damaged, though no injuries were caused.
The 1:30 a.m. airstrike came in response to a mortar launched from Gaza and an explosives-laden cluster of balloons was flown into Israel on Wednesday night. The Iron Dome missile-defense system was activated to stop the rocket from exploding in Israel.
On Wednesday, three explosive devices carried by bunches of balloons were launched from the Gaza Strip and detonated above Jewish communities in the Eshkol region along the Gaza border. No injuries or damage were reported.
The IDF has also been engaging in nightly battles with Gaza rioters who have hurled explosives and rocks at soldiers.
