Israel announced Thursday it was halting the "import of fuel into the Gaza Strip", the latest punitive measure over a wave of airborne fire bombs from the Palestinian enclave.
The defense ministry announcement came hours after Israeli jets and tanks hit targets affiliated with Hamas. No casualties were reported.
The latest round of hostilities has seen firebombs attached to bunches of balloons floating into Israel, setting scrubland ablaze. Sometimes kites are used in the makeshift attacks.
In response, Israel has closed a goods crossing with Gaza and slashed the territory's permitted coastal fishing zone.
The fuel sanction was "in light of the continued launching of incendiary balloons from the Strip toward the territory of the State of Israel and of the undermining of security stability", the defense ministry said.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum called the measure a "grave act of aggression" that "aims to worsen the crisis of our people in the blockaded Strip".
Israeli fire services in the south of the country reported 60 fires caused by balloons on Tuesday, and 24 on Wednesday, without recording any casualties.
