Israel warplane strikes NE Gaza

An Israeli warplane on Friday struck an area near the city of Beit Hanoun in the northeastern Gaza Strip without causing casualties.

According to an Anadolu Agency correspondent based nearby, the warplane targeted an area from which Palestinian activists had reportedly been flying incendiary kites.

No casualties were reported in connection with Friday’s airstrike.

Since March 30, when Palestinians began holding regular rallies along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone, activists have been flying incendiary kites and balloons over the buffer zone into Israeli territory.

According to Israeli officials, the improvised aerial weapons have caused a number of fires inside Israel resulting in significant material damage -- but no deaths or injuries.

Meanwhile, more than 170 Palestinian protesters have been martyred -- and thousands more injured -- by Israeli army troops deployed along the other side of the buffer zone.

Protesters demand the “right of return” to their homes in historical Palestine -- from which they were driven in 1948 -- and an end to Israel’s 11-year blockade of the Gaza Strip.