Several wildfires caused by Palestinian arson balloon attacks; Hamas claims Israel violating aspects of Egyptian-mediated ceasefire; Netanyahu: Iran using its proxies to attack Israel.
Arson balloon attacks from the Gaza Strip caused eight different wildfires in Israel’s southern region on Monday. The attacks follow massive protests over the weekend that led to clashes with Israel Defense Forces (IDF) clashes, injuring dozens. The Palestinian’s weekly “Great March of Return” has been ongoing since March of last year. Violent protests and demonstrations on the border where Hamas-led militants have resorted to the use of human shields and new methods of attacking Israel are taking place. Palestinians in Gaza have resorted to sending arson and explosive kites and balloons over the border, causing wildfires and devastation on Israel’s southern region. Israel has been developing weapons to target and defend itself from such attacks.
Arson attacks during the summer season are severely detrimental to Israel’s southern residents, mainly its farmers. Hamas and Islamic Jihad continue to encourage the new method of terror and last week ordered dozens of arson balloon attacks on Israel. The IDF in response scaled back on Gaza’s fishing zone.
Hamas head Ismail Haniyeh addressed the ‘Great March of Return” protests ahead of the weekend, where he accused Israel of violating aspects of the Egyptian-mediated ceasefire agreement. Haniyeh used the opportunity to frame the protests as peaceful, and Israel as the aggressor, despite Hamas’ use of terrorism. He claimed, “The siege imposed on Gaza has resulted in much suffering, restricting the freedom of movement of students, patients and others in Gaza. In response, the Palestinians thought of all means to break the siege, including the Great March of Return.” Haniyeh lied and reported, “Thousands took part in the Great March of Return peacefully, but the occupation faced them with live ammunition, deliberately killing more than 300 martyrs and wounding… thousands.”
The Iranian-backed terror organization has used its protests and rocket attacks targeting Israeli civilians, while openly confirming the Islamic Republic’s economic support. Iran has provided Hamas with rockets, missiles and building materials to be used to attack Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed Iran’s use of its proxies in attacking Israel during a visit by US National Security Adviser John Bolton. He was quoted stating “We in Israel saw Iran’s aggression in their increased efforts to establish Iranian military bases in Syria, in their increased efforts to provide sophisticated weapons to Hezbollah, in their increased financial support for terror proxies like Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad… Iranian forces fired dozens of rockets into Israeli territories and flew drones into Israeli airspace.”
