JERUSALEM - The Israeli army has said it carried out air attacks against Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip on Sunday in response to rocket attacks and firebombs sent into Israeli territory attached to balloons.

The raids come after clashes broke out on Saturday evening along the Gaza-Israeli border, the army said.

The Israeli army said dozens of Palestinian "rioters burned tyres, hurled explosive devices and grenades towards the security fence and attempted to approach it".

Over the past week, Israeli forces have carried out repeated night-time attacks on targets linked to Hamas, the group that governs the Gaza Strip.

The army said that among the targets hit were "a military compound and underground infrastructure" belonging to Hamas.

Early on Sunday, the Israeli army also said two rockets had been fired into Israel from Gaza and intercepted by its Iron Dome defence system.

"These aggressive policies aim to exacerbate the crises our people in Gaza are enduring to paralyse their daily life and to disrupt the efforts of combating coronavirus amid international and regional silence," Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesperson for Hamas, said in a statement earlier this week.(FA)