JERUSALEM (JTA) — An arson balloon believed to have been launched from Gaza landed in the major southern Israeli city of Beersheba.
It would be the farthest distance that an arson balloon has traveled since they came into regular use by Palestinians in Gaza in recent months.
The cluster of balloons, carrying an incendiary device, landed on a street in the city’s east on Monday. The road was closed to cars and pedestrians as police sappers arrived to defuse the device.
Beersheba is located in the Negev Desert about 25 miles from the Gaza border.
At least six fires caused by arson balloons erupted in Israeli communities bordering Gaza on Monday. Thousands of acres of woodlands and agricultural fields have been destroyed by incendiary material flown over the border from Gaza.
