JERUSALEM, July 16 -- An Israeli aircraft struck two Hamas positions in Gaza on Monday, retaliating helium-filled balloons that were sent into Israel and set fires in farmlands, the army confirmed.

A military spokesperson said in a statement that an aircraft hit posts belonging to Hamas, the Islamist Palestinian organization that runs the Gaza Strip. The posts were located in the northern Gaza Strip near the point from which arson balloons were launched.

"The strike was in response to the arson attacks perpetrated by Hamas against Israeli civilians and Israeli sovereignty," the statement read.

The strikes marked a stronger Israeli reaction to the dozens of balloons and kites carrying combustion materials that have been sent from Gaza since April.

Israeli fire service said four fires were started inside Israel on Monday due to the arson balloons and kites, significantly less than an average of 24 per day in previous days.

On Saturday night, Hamas announced a cease-fire, but Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the launching of burning kites must stop.

"I have directed the military to defeat and halt the terror of incendiary kites and balloons, and we are in the midst of the process," Netanyahu said during a visit to the city of Sderot, where three people were wounded when a projectile hit a home on Saturday.

The arson kites are part of a protest against the crippling blockade that Israel has imposed on Gaza since 2007.

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