Israeli Warplane Strikes Kite Flyers İn Eastern Gaza

By Nour Abu Aisha





An Israeli warplane on Wednesday fired a missile toward a group of Palestinians flying burning kites near the border of the Gaza Strip.





"The missile struck near a group of people flying the incendiary kites and balloons in the eastern Bureij refugee camp," Mohamed, who declined to give his second name for security reasons, told Anadolu Agency.





No injuries were reported by the Palestinian Health Ministry.





The Israeli army has yet to comment on the report.





Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli warplanes carried out several airstrikes across the Gaza Strip following rocket fire from the Palestinian territory.





The attacks came one day after Israeli fighter jets struck positions belonging to Palestinian group Hamas in retaliation for the launch of incendiary kites and balloons into southern Israel.





Palestinian activists have been flying incendiary kites and balloons toward Israeli territory as part of ongoing demonstrations near the Israel-Gaza security fence that began on Mar. 30.





Since the protests began, at least 128 Palestinian demonstrators have been martyred -- and thousands more injured -- by Israeli army gunfire.





Protesters demand the "right of return" to their homes in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.





They also demand an end to Israel's decade-long blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave's economy and deprived its roughly two million inhabitants of basic commodities. -