Gaza committees urge parents to stop children flying kites after Israeli warning

Gaza City, Gaza Strip. Committees representing Gaza-based organisations running displacement camps and shelters have urged parents to stop children flying kites, following an Israeli warning of a forceful response if Hamas revives the use of incendiary kites across the border.

The committees said the measure was intended to protect children, while a Hamas source said the announcement had been coordinated with the group’s authorities.

Committee statement

In a statement issued late on Monday, the popular committees said they were working to stop the practice to protect children’s lives.

“We are working tirelessly on the ground and doing everything possible to stop this practice, not to restrict the childhood of our children, who have already been deprived of the most basic rights to play and live in safety, but to protect their innocent lives,” the statement said.

Israeli warning

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that unless the launches stopped immediately, those responsible for sending kites, balloons or drones towards Israel would be targets of assassination. He also said areas from which they were launched would be ordered to evacuate.

A senior Israeli defence official said Hamas was seeking to provoke Israel by encouraging Gazans to fly kites across the border.

Previous incidents

In 2018, Gazans launched incendiary balloons and kites over the border, causing fires across hundreds of acres of open fields and farmland. Participants said the launches were a protest against the Israeli blockade of the Hamas-controlled enclave.

During the past month, several kites not reported to contain incendiary materials were seen drifting from Gaza into Israel, alarming residents of nearby villages that were attacked by Hamas during the October 7, 2023 assault that triggered the Gaza war.

Parents’ concerns

Umm Mohammed, a Gaza City mother who spoke to Reuters via a chat application, said she feared her son could be harmed.

“Every summer, my kid, Ahmed, ten, and the kids in the street fly those kites to entertain themselves, but I will not allow him to, not anymore,” she said.