An AFP photographer on Monday captured photos of an egret as it walked in the charred remains of an Israeli field burnt by incendiary balloons and kites launched from the Gaza Strip.

The bird was seen rummaging in the blackened earth, perhaps searching for food in the scorched soil.

The near-daily fires sparked by the airborne arson devices have burned thousands of acres of farmland, forests and nature reserves in the regions around the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli officials.

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On Monday night Israeli aircraft bombed a Hamas position in the southern Gaza Strip after a group of Palestinians launched incendiary balloons at southern Israel, the army said.

The attack came after the Israeli Air Force conducted a series of airstrikes inside the coastal enclave, aimed at deterring Palestinian terror groups from continuing to launch incendiary and explosive kites and balloons at Israel.

The airstrikes on Hamas facilities appeared to be a new tactic by the military to deter Palestinians from flying the airborne arson devices into Israel, after its previous attempts to do so by firing warning shots at kite-flyers failed to yield results.