Israeli soldiers attempt to extinguish a fire caused by inflammable materials in a forest field outside Nahal Oz Village, Israel, near the border between Israel and Gaza Strip, on June 27, 2019. Israeli authorities said that at least 30 blazes had been started by helium-filled balloons from the Gaza Strip on Thursday, amid escalation between Israel and Hamas. (Xinhua/Gil Cohen Magen)
JERUSALEM, June 27 (Xinhua) -- Israeli authorities said that at least 30 blazes had been started by helium-filled balloons from the Gaza Strip on Thursday, amid escalation between Israel and Hamas.
According to figures released by Israel's Fire and Rescue Service and local government authorities near the Gaza border, arson balloons caused at least 30 fires in the arid farmlands of southern Israel.
A spokesman with the Fire and Rescue Service said in a statement that 17 large blazes were confirmed and caused by incendiary balloons from Gaza.
Since Sunday, some 100 fires have been started by Gaza balloons, the Fire and Rescue Service said.
The wave of arson balloons comes amid escalation between Israel and Hamas, an Islamist Palestinian movement that runs Gaza.
On Tuesday, Israel blocked fuel deliveries to the besieged enclave.
COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry unit responsible for Palestinian civil affairs, said that fuel transfers will remain blocked "until further notice."
Palestinians in the coastal enclave have occasionally sent helium-filled balloons with arson devices to set fire in southern Israel since the so-called "Great March of Return" started in March 2018.
The marches toward the fence between Gaza and Israel protest crippling blockade imposed by Israel since 2007.
