Israel warned Hamas on Sunday (August 23, 2026) that it would step up operations in Gaza if launches of kites, drones and balloons towards Israel continued, after a recent increase in such incidents, while Hamas denied responsibility.
“The writing is in the sky, and it’s the army’s responsibility to act in time. They said they had held a security assessment with top military and security officials on Sunday (August 24, 2026) to discuss the matter.
The Israeli military believes Hamas was behind the launches, which did not carry explosives, and may have been testing how Israel would respond, according to the reports. “Israel warns Hamas that if the launches toward Israel do not cease immediately, the IDF will take action to intensify targeted operations against those responsible… and will evacuate the population from areas from which kites, drones and balloons are launched,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement. Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, said in a statement that the kites were “launched from Gaza by children searching for their innocent childhood amid the rubble”. In a separate statement, the Islamist group accused Israel of using the kites as a “pretext” for airstrikes in central Gaza on Sunday (August 24, 2026), in which three people were killed according to Gaza’s civil defence rescue service.
