The launching of incendiary balloons from the Palestinian enclave of Gaza caused bushfires in southern Israel, the first such incidents in more than three weeks, according to firefighters.
Firefighters extinguished fires "
in three places in a small area in the region of Eshkol,
" said a statement saying that "
an expert had concluded that the fires were caused by incendiary balloons
."
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Israel has responded in the past to the throws of these balloons with night airstrikes targeting the infrastructure of the Hamas movement which controls the Gaza Strip, an impoverished Palestinian enclave where some two million people have lived crammed under Israeli blockade for 15 years.
The last time these balloons from the Palestinian enclave caused a fire in Israel was on July 2.
Israel announced on July 12 the extension of the fishing zone and the expansion of permitted imports into the Gaza Strip to loosen the grip imposed during the deadly conflict with Hamas in May.
A fragile ceasefire ended the 11-day lightning war - from May 10 to 21 - the deadliest between Israel and Hamas since 2014.