JERUSALEM, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli air force on Friday night carried out airstrikes on the northern Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Saturday.
The Israeli attack came in response to continual launches of arson balloons from the Gaza Strip into Israel on Friday, the IDF added.
The Israeli fighter jets thus struck a military compound and rocket launching site of the Palestinian organization Hamas, according to the Israeli military.
"The rocket launching site was in a civilian area, once again emphasizing how Hamas endangers Palestinian civilians," the IDF said, vowing to continue to respond as necessary to Hamas activities emanating from Gaza.
Israel's state-owned Kan TV news reported that the incendiary balloons caused four forest fires in the Israeli area close to the Gaza Strip.
Earlier on Friday, the IDF said it had fired artillery shells at targets in southern Lebanon in response to Lebanon's firing of more than 10 rockets into Israeli territory.
Most of the rockets were intercepted by Israel's anti-rocket Iron Dome defense system, and the rest landed in open areas.
The rockets, fired at the Israel-occupied Golan Heights and the Galilee Panhandle area in northern Israel, did not cause casualties.
