FILE PHOTO: Palestinians fly balloons loaded with flammable material to be thrown at the Israeli side, near the Israel-Gaza border in the central Gaza Strip, June 4, 2018. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

Asharq Al-Awsat

Israel blocked fuel deliveries to the Gaza Strip Tuesday, citing new incendiary balloons from the Palestinian enclave.

The move follows "the release of arson balloons from the Gaza Strip toward the State of Israel" which caused fires across the border, the Israeli defense ministry department responsible for Palestinian civil affairs said.

Fuel transfers were halted at the Karem Shalom goods crossing on Tuesday morning and would remain blocked "until further notice," COGAT said in a statement.

Balloons with attached incendiary devices are flown over the Gaza border by Palestinian demonstrators seeking to start fires in nearby Israeli farmland.

During regular demonstrations last year the balloons started hundreds of fires, though they have been curbed in recent months.

Fuel deliveries were agreed in late 2018 as part of a truce agreement between Israel and the impoverished enclave’s Hamas rulers.

They have improved electricity supply in the territory, where residents currently receive around 12 hours of power a day, according to the UN.

Before the deal, the daily power supply was regularly as low as six hours.