GAZA, July 11 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli army drone on Wednesday fired a warning missile at young Palestinians who were releasing incendiary kites and balloons from the eastern Gaza Strip into Israel, said security sources.
The incident took place east of Rafah town in southern Gaza, close to the border with Israel, causing no injuries, the sources said.
There has been no immediate Israeli comment on targeting these young Palestinians.
On June 9, the Israeli army started to fire missiles at Palestinian launchers of flaming kites and balloons in eastern Gaza. So far, the Israeli army has failed to prevent activists from launching and releasing kites and balloons into Israel in what the Palestinians call "the Great March of Return" rally.
Since March 30, the National Commission of the Great March of Return has been organizing rallies, protests and demonstrations every Friday in five separate locations in the eastern Gaza Strip, close to the border with Israel.
Ashraf A-Qedra, health ministry spokesman in Gaza, told reporters that the death toll of Palestinians since March 30 has grown up to 137 with more 15,000 others injured.
Around half of them were shot by live ammunition, and many of them are still in critical condition, he added.
A day earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that his government decided to tighten blockade on the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by the Islamic Hamas movement.
The Israeli measures focus on banning goods export and import of the coastal encalve and minimizing the fishing area allowed for Gazans from nine nautical miles to six nautical miles.
