JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli airstrikes hit militant sites in the Gaza Strip, and Palestinians responded by sending a series of fire-carrying balloons back across the border for a second straight day. Wednesday’s moves pose further tests of a fragile cease-fire that ended last month’s war between Israel and Hamas. The latest round of violence was prompted by a parade of Israeli ultranationalists through contested east Jerusalem on Tuesday. Palestinians saw the march as a provocation and sent balloons into southern Israel, causing several blazes in parched farmland. Israel then carried out the airstrikes, the first such raids since a May 21 cease-fire ended 11 days of fighting. More balloons followed. The army said the airstrikes targeted facilities used by Hamas militants for meetings to plan attacks.
