Israel strikes Hamas sites after rocket attack from Gaza

Two rockets fired from Gaza fell near the Israeli security fence late on Thursday before Israel launched airstrikes on Hamas sites in the Palestinian enclave, the military said.

An Israeli military spokesperson said in a statement that warplanes struck "a concrete manufacturing site used for underground infrastructure and tunnel construction" that belongs to Hamas.

There were no immediate reports of casualties on both sides.

Tensions have been spiralling over the past days as militant groups in the Gaza Strip sent balloons attached to incendiary and explosive materials into southern Israel.

Israel has carried out daily airstrikes and used artillery against Hamas sites for the past 11 days. Israel has also closed the fishing zone around Gaza and its main cargo crossing.

Hamas, an Islamist Palestinian movement that runs the Gaza Strip, demands the ease of Israeli blockade imposed after the movement seized power in Gaza in 2007.

The recent exchange came amid efforts by Egyptian security officials to halt the flareup.

Despite a truce achieved in 2019, Gaza militants and Israel clash sporadically, in which Palestinians launch rockets or balloons toward southern Israel and Israel launches missile strikes and imposes sanctions against Gazan residents.

According to Palestinian and Israeli commentators, the recent violence was triggered by Israel's refusal to allow the transfer of Qatari money to the besieged enclave.