Parents in Gaza have been cautioned against allowing their children to fly kites in the conflict-stricken territory, following Israel’s warning of a strong reaction should Hamas reignite its strategy of sending incendiary kites across the border.
A statement released earlier this week by local popular committees, which include members from various NGOs and charities operating displacement camps and shelters in Gaza, conveyed this warning.
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,” said the statement.
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 a protest at the Israeli blockade of the Hamas-controlled enclave.
Kites scare Israeli villagers
In the past month, several kites that were not reported to be carrying incendiary materials were spotted drifting from Gaza into Israel, alarming Israelis who live in the nearby villages, which came under attack in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led assault that sparked the war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hamas that unless it stopped immediately, “those responsible” for launching kites, balloons or drones towards Israel would be targets of assassination and that areas from which they are sent would be ordered to evacuate.
Umm Mohammed, a mother from Gaza City, 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 any more,” she said.
A senior Israeli defence official said Hamas was trying to provoke Israel by encouraging Gazans to fly kites across the border.
A Hamas official said the group has complained to ceasefire mediators that “Israel was making fake pretexts to continue the war on Gaza”. Israel complained to US 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.
“All militant activity in Gaza must stop, including the flying of kites. We have conveyed this message directly through the established mechanism,” said an official of the Board of Peace.
“Israel, too, must comply with the ceasefire; military action cannot extend beyond responding to genuine and imminent threats,” he added.
Senior Hamas official Basem Naim slammed the Board of Peace for characterising children’s play as militant activities.
“What utter audacity! Is it even conceivable that attempts to appease the war criminal Netanyahu have reached the point of framing innocent children’s activities as armed operations, at a time when Netanyahu continues his daily killing and destruction despite the agreement?” Naim said.
An October 2025 ceasefire halted major fighting, but it didn’t end Israeli attacks.
An Israeli air strike killed one Palestinian on Tuesday in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis, in the south of the enclave. The Israeli military said it had targeted a militant, without further information.
Later, another Israeli air strike killed at least three people in the vicinity of a school housing displaced families in Jabalia in northern Gaza, doctors said. The Israeli military didn’t immediately comment.
More than 1,280 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect in October, according to Gazan health officials, while the Israeli military says four Israeli soldiers have been killed.
