WarSclerotic

An Israeli airstrike against a Hamas cell launching ‎incendiary devices from the Gaza Strip killed one member and ‎wounded three others, Israeli and Palestinian ‎officials said Thursday.‎

Immediately after the airstrike, Palestinians fired mortar shells at Israeli border ‎towns, ‎triggering the rocket alert system in parts of the ‎western Negev. Israel retaliated with tank fire at ‎Hamas positions, the IDF said.‎

Palestinian arson terrorism, which has been raging ‎since late April, sparked 25 fires in Israeli ‎communities near the Gaza border Thursday, destroying dozens of acres of ‎forest and agricultural land. Previous fires have already consumed 9,000 ‎acres of vegetation and ‎farmland. ‎

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said the Israeli ‎airstrike targeted a Hamas cell launching incendiary ‎balloons.‎

‎”The IDF will continue to operate decisively against ‎Hamas-led terrorist activities and views ‎this activity with great severity,” the unit said.‎

Hamas said the man killed was a member of a “special ‎forces unit” tasked with monitoring the Gaza border ‎fence near Rafah, in the enclave’s south. It did not ‎mention if he had participated in launching ‎incendiary kites.‎

Palestinian media reported the cell was launching ‎the balloons at the Israeli border when it was ‎struck by a drone.‎

The incident marks the first reported ‎fatality among Palestinians involved in kite ‎terrorism. Israel has been making an effort to fire ‎only warning shots at these cells, as most comprise ‎teenagers. ‎

It was unclear whether this indicates a shift in military ‎policy.‎

Last Saturday, Israel struck Hamas targets in its ‎biggest airstrike since the 2014 war, while Gaza ‎terrorists fired some 200 projectiles at Israeli ‎communities near the border. ‎

Two Palestinians were killed in a strike ‎on Gaza City, while four Israelis were wounded by a ‎rocket that landed on a residential home in the ‎southern city of Sderot, 2 miles from the border.‎

Israel has reiterated that it has no interest in ‎engaging in another war with Hamas, but stressed it ‎will no longer tolerate Palestinian arson terrorism. ‎

Also on Thursday, Palestinian Ambassador to the U.N. ‎Riyad Mansour filed a grievance with the U.N. ‎Security Council over Israeli airstrikes on Hamas ‎assets in Gaza in response to arson terrorism. ‎

He also complained about Israel’s recent decision to ‎close the Kerem Shalom cargo crossing, saying the ‎move amounts to the “collective punishment of the ‎Palestinian population.”‎

Cracking down on arson terrorism and the Hamas-‎orchestrated border riots campaign, Israel last week ‎temporarily suspended all commercial activity at ‎Kerem Shalom, the main cargo crossing ‎linking it ‎with the coastal enclave.‎

Earlier this week, the Defense Ministry announced it ‎was also suspending the delivery of petroleum fuels ‎and natural gas ‎to Gaza.‎

The Defense Ministry stressed that neither measure ‎would affect the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.