The Israeli army attacked Hamas targets in Gaza on Friday because militants from there flew balloons with fire towards Israel for the first time in a year.
The fighting started after Palestinians protested for over a week, sometimes using violence, along the barrier separating Gaza from Israel.
On Friday, Israeli forces shot and injured at least 28 people on the Gaza side of the fence, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.
The weapons are not very complicated things – they are balloons filled with helium, like the ones you see at children’s birthday parties. They have explosives or devices attached to them which are set on fire before they are used.
The balloons were let go by a group called Ahfad Al-Nasser, or the Descendants of al-Nasser. This group is known for doing attacks using balloons that have explosives tied to them.
The balloon launches on Friday caused at least three fires in Israel, but they were all put out.
The IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) attacked two places where Hamas was launching balloons, and another place where they said Hamas shot at Israeli soldiers.
The Israeli military said that no IDF soldiers were hurt.
It is not known right away if anyone died or got hurt in the Israeli attacks. The IDF said the attacks were done using a drone and a tank.
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Israel hits targets in Gaza after sending explosive balloons across border
