Israeli warplanes carried out an airstrike in the northern area of Gaza Strip on June 18 as a response to the recent fires caused by inflammable kites and balloons.
The kites and balloons launched from Gaza have burnt several crops and land in the adjacent Israeli farms close to the border.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported its first airstrike through a tweet: “Moments ago, an IDF aircraft fired shots near a group of Palestinians who were launching arson balloons in the southern Gaza Strip.”
In a continued flow of tweets, the IDF explained the fighter jets struck nine military targets in two Hamas compounds and in a 'munition manufacturing site’ in the northern Gaza Strip.
One of the IDF’s attacks struck a car used by a group of Palestinians who launched the incendiary balloons and kites.
The IDF claimed that the 'terror attacks’ – balloons and kites – have endangered the Israeli residents living close to the border and have also damaged extensive areas in Israel. IDF blames Hamas for all the violence emanating from Gaza.
They also threatened to continue with the attacks and increase the airstrikes if necessary.
“The IDF is determined to continue to act with increasing intensity against these acts of terror as long as required, using the variety of tools at its disposal.”
In addition to the airstrikes, as stated by Middle East Eye, on June 16 two Palestinians were wounded by the IDF during the attempt of launching balloons across the border into Israel.
IDF has been threatening to continue with the attacks since Monday 18, however, no statement has been released regarding the 129 Palestinians killed and more than 13,000 injured by the IDF during the Great Return March. No Israelis have been killed.
The kites and balloons, usually decorated with Palestinian flags, slogans and faces of the Palestinians that have been killed by the IDF, are symbols of the Palestinian resistance.
“Gazan kites are expressions of defiance, hope and the longing for freedom,” as stated by author and scholar Dr. Ramzy Baroud for the Foreign Policy Journal.
They are the only tools that Palestinians in Gaza can use to fight against the overwhelming military force of Israel during the demonstrations.
Additionally, Palestinian kite flyers are using fishing nets attached to the kites to disrupt or even catch Israeli drones. The drones are used by the IDF to target and intimidate protesters during the peaceful demonstrations of the Great March of Return.
“People living under oppressive rules take every opportunity to express defiance, even through such a symbolic way [kites],” Baroud stated. 
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