The Takeaway: Hamas ‘balloon terror’ sparks conflict on Gaza faultline - Al-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Andrew Parasiliti

Andrew Parasiliti

Aug 12, 2020

Masked Palestinians prepare to attach balloons to a gas canister before releasing it near Gaza's Bureij refugee camp, along the Israel-Gaza border fence, on February 10, 2020. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP) (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images) — Masked Palestinians prepare to attach balloons to a gas canister before releasing it near Gaza's Bureij refugee camp, along the Israel-Gaza border fence, on Feb. 10, 2020. — MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images

Gaza: Israel strikes back over Hamas 'balloon terror' and rocket offensive

“I want to say to all of Iran’s forces, including in Gaza, there will be a very heavy price for the balloon terror,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today, as Israel attacked what it says were Hamas military sites in Gaza with helicopters and tanks.

A woman sits with a dog over the Mediterranean sea waterfront by a fishing boat in the area of Dbayeh, north of the capital Beirut (background skyline), before sunset on December 5, 2019. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images)

To you

Daria Daniel

Daria Daniel

TOPSHOT - An armed policeman standds guard after migrants disembarked from the Motor Tanker El Hiblu 1 that was hijacked by migrants in Valletta's Grand Harbour on March 28, 2019, after Maltese armed forces took control of the vessel. - The intervention came after migrants hijacked a merchant ship that rescued them off the coast of Libya and ordered it to head towards Italy, the Italian government said on March 27, 2019. (Photo by JONATHAN BORG / AFP) (Photo by JONATHAN BORG/AFP via Getty Images)

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Fehim Tastekin

Fehim Tastekin

In Paris, reporting on Turkish politics

Andrew Swiger, senior vice-president of Exxon (L) shakes hand with Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, president and CEO of Qatar Petroleum after signing an agreement, Doha, Qatar, June 3, 2018.

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Mohamed Saied

Mohamed Saied

Mohammed al-Emadi, chairman of Qatar's National Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, speaks during a press conference in Gaza City on January 25, 2019. - Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas said on January 25 they would not accept a fresh tranche of Qatari funds, accusing Israel of imposing new conditions on the money entering the blockaded Palestinian territory. The rejection of the expected $15 million (13.2 million euros) raised fears of fresh tensions along the Gaza-Israel border, ahead of weekly Friday p

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Entsar Abu Jahal

Entsar Abu Jahal