Israel-Gaza border violence flares with airstrikes

Bloomberg

Violence flared along the volatile Israel-Gaza Strip border on Saturday, with the Israeli air force striking sites inside the Hamas-ruled enclave including two tunnels designed for attacks, and Palestinian militants firing volleys of mortars and rockets.
No serious casualties were reported on either side. The military said it struck overnight in response to arson attacks from Gaza and assaults against soldiers in the area the day before. Targets hit overnight and in another round at midday include the underground passages, designed so militants can infiltrate Israel to conduct assaults, and a site used to prepare kites
and balloons for airborne arson attacks, Israel’s military said.
Hamas security officials said at least 15 sites were struck, and the Israeli military said more than 30 projectiles were fired at southern Israel.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said the attacks from Gaza were meant “to force the enemy to stop the escalation.”
Tensions along the border have been high since near-weekly protests against Israel began in late March. Almost 140 Palestinians, some of them unarmed, have been killed in the confrontations with the Israeli military, and militants have destroyed
thousands of acres of farmland and nature reserves in southern Israel and tried repeatedly to break through the frontier.
At the latest protest, two people were shot dead — a 15-year-old who tried to breach the border and an 18-year-old who died of his wounds on Saturday.