Gaza conflict: Israeli military carries out dozens of airstrikes after soldier killed by Palestinian militants

The Israeli military has carried out dozens of fresh airstrikes in Gaza after it said a soldier had been shot and killed by Palestinian militants.

The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) Twitter account said 25 strikes had been directed against Hamas targets in the Khan Younis area after the soldier was attacked “during operational activity” at the Gaza border on Friday.

Strikes targeted a battalion headquarters, it said, plus “the battalion’s command and control capabilities, the battalion commander’s office, as well as unique aerial defence capabilities”.

“In addition, the IDF targeted a UAV warehouse, aerial defence systems, observation posts, and a factory used for underground infrastructure manufacturing,” the military said.

The soldier was the first Israeli killed since Palestinian protests were launched on the border with the Jewish state on 30 March.

Following a furious bombardment from warplanes and tanks lasting several hours, a Hamas spokesman said a ceasefire had been agreed.

“With Egyptian and United Nations efforts it has been agreed to return to the era of calm between [Israel] and Palestinian factions,” Fawzi Barhoum said.

Israeli officials did not immediately comment on the announcement but an army spokeswoman said that in the early hours of Saturday, there was no known military activity in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian residents said the area was calm.

Nickolay Mladenov, the UN’s envoy for the Middle East peace process, had previously urged both sides to back down and prevent what would be the fourth war in 11 years .

“Everyone in Gaza needs to step back from the brink. Not next week. Not tomorrow. Right NOW!” he wrote on Twitter.

“Those who want to provoke Palestinians and Israelis into another war must not succeed.”

The Israeli army said that it had come under fire during what it described as “violent riots” at the border on Friday. War planes and tanks were deployed to return fire.

At least four Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes, according to Gaza medical officials. Hamas, the militant group which controls Gaza, said three of the dead were its fighters. The fourth was a protester, local residents and medics said. At least 120 Gazans were wounded.

The already tinder-dry situation had escalated during Friday morning when Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, defied Israeli calls to stop the launching of incendiary balloons and kites across the border. The helium filled balloons as well as kites laden with flammable liquid have wrought havoc on the Israeli side of the border, with with more than 2,500 hectares of farmland being set ablaze.

No Israelis have been killed by the balloons or kites, but the IDF, Israel’s army, has vowed to stop them being launched from the 362 sq km territory, which is home to 1.8 million Palestinians who face heavy restrictions on the import of vital supplies.

Other sources claimed that as many as five Palestinians had died, but this could not be verified. Israelis in bordering communities were told to remain in shelters amid concerns of rocket fire from the enclave.

Since 30 March, thousands of Palestinians have marched on the sealed border, demanding the right to return to ancestral lands they lost in 1948 after the creation of Israel. Until Friday about 140 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire during he protests. No Israelis have been killed.

Some have attempted to cut the fence, while others have launched the balloons and kites, which have sparked at least 750 wildfires on the Israeli side of the border. The country’s fire service says that around 2,600 hectares of land has been burnt.

Hamas denies the Israeli assertion that the demonstrations are designed to provide cover for militants to launch cross-border attacks.

On Friday, two flammable balloons were found in Gilo, a Jewish settlement in annexed East Jerusalem, 75km from Gaza City

Israel says it will halt the attacks from inside Gaza, even if that risks a wider conflict.

In the Israeli border town of Sderot on Friday, Israeli defence minister Avigdor Lieberman reiterated demands for the attacks to cease.

“We are trying to be balanced and responsible but Hamas’s leaders are forcing us into a situation in which we will have no choice but to embark on a broad and painful military operation,” he said.

“I think responsibility will fall entirely on Hamas’s shoulders, but I’m sorry to say that ordinary Gazans will have to pay the price.”

Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas’s deputy chief in Gaza, responded by saying kites would continue to fly.

“In the face of Zionist threats, we say the resistance will continue, the marches will continue and its tools will continue to vary and take different forms, including the kites,” he said.

He also said that Hamas was holding two Israeli soldiers that Israel had declared killed in action during a 2014 war in Gaza.

There are fears on both sides of the border that the latest flashes of violence risks becoming an all-out war.

Additional reporting by Reuters