Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip at dawn Monday were intended to distract attention from Israel's "ongoing aggression against unarmed protesters, children and journalists" along the Gaza-Israel border, according to Gaza-based resistance movement Hamas.
In a statement, group spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said Monday's shelling of Hamas sites in northern Gaza "betrays the extent of [Israel's] internal crisis and the state of confusion into which the Zionist entity has been thrown by the success of the ongoing 'return' rallies in Gaza".
"The rallies have tarnished the prestige of the Israeli occupation and have exposed its criminality," Barhoum added, going on to describe the mass border rallies as "an evolution of the tools of confrontation and popular struggle".
Early Monday morning, Israeli warplanes struck a Hamas site in the northern Gaza Strip. No deaths or injuries were reported as a result of the strike.
According to Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adaree, the air raids came in response to attempts by a "Palestinian cell" to plant explosive devices near the Gaza-Israel border.
At least 31 Palestinians have been martyred by Israeli forces since Mar. 30, when peaceful Palestinian demonstrations began along the Gaza Strip's eastern border with Israel, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The rallies are part of a six-week-long demonstration that will culminate on May 15. That day will mark the 70th anniversary of Israel's establishment -- an event Palestinians refer to as the "Nakba" or "Catastrophe".
Demonstrators demand that Palestinian refugees be granted the "right of return" to their towns and villages in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.
