Gaza Parents Warned to Stop Children Flying Kites After Israeli Threats

Parents in the Gaza Strip have been warned to stop their children from flying kites after Israel threatened a forceful response if Hamas revives the tactic of launching incendiary kites over the border.

The popular committees, comprising representatives of local non-government organizations, issued the warning in a statement late on Monday, coordinated with Hamas authorities. The statement emphasized efforts to stop the practice not to restrict the childhood of our children. But to protect their innocent lives. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hamas on Sunday that those responsible for launching kites, balloons, or drones toward Israel would be targets of assassination, and areas from which they are sent would be ordered to evacuate.

Defense Minister Israel Katz stated on Monday that any kite or balloon crossing into Israeli territory would be treated the same as a drone, with or without explosives. This follows the sighting of several kites, not reported to be carrying incendiary materials, drifting from Gaza into Israel over the past month. Israelis in nearby villages, which came under attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, expressed alarm.

A senior Israeli defense official stated Hamas is trying to provoke Israel by encouraging kite flying. Hamas official Bassem Naim rejected the claims, stating the kites were launched from Gaza by children searching for their innocent childhood amid the rubble. The United Nations condemned Israel's threat to expel people from areas where kites are launched, with UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani calling it outrageous.

Umm Mohammed, a mother from Gaza City, expressed worry her 10-year-old son, Ahmed, could be hurt and would no longer allow him to fly kites. In 2018, Gazans sent incendiary balloons and kites over the border, causing fires across hundreds of acres of open fields and farmlands, in protest of the Israeli blockade.