Israel closed the Kerem Shalom Gaza border crossing except for vital humanitarian aid and fuel due to the launching of dozens of incendiary and explosive balloons into Israel over the past week. Over a dozen fires were sparked in southern communities on Monday as a result of the balloons.

“The decision was made following security deliberations and in light of repeated terror attacks committed by terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip against Israeli citizens, which is a violation of the Israeli sovereignty,” the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said in a statement on Monday night.

“Hamas is fully accountable for all that is done in the Gaza Strip, as well as for actions launched from Gaza against Israel. Hamas will therefore have to deal with the consequences of the violence committed against the citizens of Israel.”

The fires that raged in southern Israel on Monday fortunately did not cause any injuries but 400 dumans of land in the Be’eri nature reserve was burned.

סיכום היום בדסק הערבים: בלוני תבערה מעזה עם ד"ש ללבנון pic.twitter.com/SasF14yrmp

— Nurit Yohanan (@nurityohanan) August 10, 2020

הם שורפים ואנחנו מכבים… עוד מעט ישלחו איזה ״כלי טיס״ שיעשה להם עוד איזה חור בעוד איזה מנהרה…#בלוני_תבערה
pic.twitter.com/Kw4y5RFo7g

— Presamiga (@presamiga) August 10, 2020

Hamas also fired at least eight rockets into the Mediterranean Sea on Monday as a “warning to Israel.”

Below is a picture of an incendiary device found in Arad this week:

בלון אליו מחובר פריט חשוד אותר באזור התעשייה בערד. בבדיקת חבלן משטרה עלה כי מדובר במטען חבלה בעל מנגנון השהייה והוא נוטרל pic.twitter.com/007kBMkEse

— משטרת ישראל (@IL_police) August 6, 2020

The Gaza Strip is already in a dire financial situation, with unemployment over 60% in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

The suffering of Gazan citizens is of little concern to Hamas, but the terror group is reportedly escalating tensions on the Gazan border in order to pressure Qatar to continue providing funds to the Strip past the current September deadline.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)