Kites flown by children for recreation in the Gaza Strip prompted the Israeli authorities to threaten an expansion of assassination operations and the evacuation of some settlement areas.
Israeli media said in recent days that some kites launched from Gaza had reached Israeli settlements around the Strip. No explosive material was found on the kites.
Israel threatens assassinations and evacuations
In a joint statement issued on Sunday, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Katz said assassination operations targeting those identified as responsible would be expanded unless the dispatch of kites toward Israel stopped immediately.
The statement said residents of areas from which kites, unmanned aerial vehicles and balloons were sent would be evacuated. Israeli army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and senior military officials attended the assessment meeting.
Katz had previously instructed the army to take immediate and forceful action against kites and balloons coming from Gaza. Katz argued that balloons and kites, as well as kites and unmanned aerial vehicles, should be treated within the same framework regardless of whether they carried explosives.
Army gives details on four kites
In a statement on Saturday, the Israeli army said four kites had been found within approximately 24 hours around the Nahal Oz settlement. One of the kites was detected on Friday and three on Saturday morning.
After examining the kites, the army said no suspicious material had been found and that they posed no danger to the public. The military statement contained no information proving that the kites had been deliberately sent toward Israeli settlements.
Some parts of Gaza’s populated areas are only a few kilometers from Israeli settlements around the Strip. Without engines or independent guidance systems, kites can drift with the wind when their strings break.
Hamas calls the threats an attempt to justify attacks
The statements by the Israeli authorities caused surprise and concern in Gaza. Some Palestinians mocked the statements, while others expressed concern that the threats could be used to justify a possible military escalation.
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem criticized the attempt to portray kites flown by displaced children in Gaza as a threat in a statement on Sunday. Qassem said the statements were intended to justify the continuation of attacks and violations, and that the threats extended even to children in Gaza.
Qassem also called on the US administration, the mediating and guarantor countries, and the Peace Council to apply pressure. The Hamas spokesperson called for the attacks to stop and for the ceasefire process in Gaza not to be undermined.
Political analyst: Statements became a subject of ridicule
Writer and political analyst Iyad al-Karra argued that Israel’s statement about the kites had two aspects. Karra said the statement could signal an intention to resume wide-ranging airstrikes and could have been intended for domestic political consumption.
Karra said Israel’s military and security circles had acknowledged that the kites posed no danger, and alleged that the statements were aimed at redirecting the domestic agenda to other issues and avoiding responsibility for implementing the ceasefire agreements concerning Gaza.
Arguing that Hamas had adhered to the ceasefire agreement, Karra said no incident had been recorded on the ground indicating that the Palestinian side had violated the agreement. Claiming that Israel violated the agreement every day, Karra criticized the portrayal of children’s kites as a threat.
Deaths in Gaza
According to data from the Health Ministry in Gaza, approximately 1,286 Palestinians had been killed and 4,257 wounded by Saturday due to ceasefire violations.
The ministry said that since October 2023, the total death toll in the war on Gaza had risen to 73,420, while the number of wounded had reached 174,369.
