Israel hits Hamas sites in Gaza

Israel's military said its air force struck a Hamas target in the north of the Gaza Strip on Sunday, in response to "explosive devices" that were sent towards Israel.

"Today, explosive devices were hurled from the Gaza Strip at Israel’s border fence," the Israeli army said on Twitter.

The army said one of its aircraft targeted a Hamas military post in response.

The reported strike came after a Hamas security source said Sunday Israeli aircraft had struck its observation points elsewhere in the Gaza Strip late Saturday.

Those strikes - east of Al Bureij in the central Gaza Strip and east of Rafah in the south of the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave - did not wound anyone, the Hamas security source said.

The strikes occurred after a "cluster of balloons carrying an explosive device was launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory," the Israeli army said in a statement.

"No injuries or damage were reported," it said.

Then tensions are still high as the Palestinians continue to protest the Israeli occupation at the border fence.

Protests at the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip began in March last year, with Gazans demanding Israel ease a blockade of the enclave and recognition of their right to return to lands their families fled or were forced from when Israel was founded in 1948.

At least 251 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the protests began in March 2018. 

"War crimes" 

The United Nations Human Rights Council released its report last week, that said Israel may have "committed war crimes and crimes against humanity" in killing hundreds of Palestinians and wounding more than 6,100 of them at the weekly protests last year in Gaza. 

The independent panel said it had confidential information about those it believes to be responsible for the unlawful killings, including Israeli army snipers and commanders. It called on Israel to prosecute them.

“The Israeli security forces killed and maimed Palestinian demonstrators who did not pose an imminent threat of death or serious injury to others when they were shot, nor were they directly participating in hostilities,” it said, adding that the protests had been “civilian in nature”.

The victims included children, journalists, and a wheelchair-bound double amputee.