By Nidal al-Mughrabi
Israel complained to U.S. In 2018, Gazans sent incendiary balloons and kites over the border, causing fires across hundreds of acres of open fields and farmlands, in what they said was in protest at the Israeli blockade of the Hamas-controlled enclave. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, which oversees the implementation of the 2025 Gaza ceasefire deal, about the kites, according to a second Israeli official.
The announcement was coordinated with Hamas authorities, a source in the militant group said. “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 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hamas on Sunday that unless that stopped immediately, “those responsible” for launching kites, balloons or drones toward Israel would be targets of assassination and that areas from which they are sent will be ordered to evacuate. Umm Mohammed, a mother from Gaza City who spoke with Reuters over a chat app, said she was worried that her son could be hurt. “Every summer, my kid, Ahmed, 10, and the kids in the street fly those kites to entertain themselves, but I will not allow him to, not anymore,” she said.
The popular committees, comprising representatives of local non-governmental organizations and charities that run Gaza displacement camps and shelters, issued the warning in a statement late on Monday.
