Ilan Ben Zion
Associated Press
JERUSALEM Israeli aircraft on Wednesday carried out a series of airstrikes at militant sites in Gaza, the first such raids since a shaky cease-fire ended the war last month. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The airstrikes came amid escalating tensions, after hundreds of Israeli ultranationalists, some chanting “Death to Arabs,” paraded Tuesday in east Jerusalem in a show of force. Palestinians in Gaza responded by launching incendiary balloons that caused at least 10 fires in southern Israel, according to the national fire department.
The airstrikes, incendiary balloons and march underscored the fragility of the tenuous truce that ended last month’s 11-day war between Israel and Hamas, as well as the challenges facing Israel s new government.