Kites from Gaza cross security fence into Israel, Netanyahu threatens Hamas with harsh response
Hamas accuses Israel of ‘fabricating pretexts to attack children,’ claims kites are ‘children’s toys’
Israel issued strong warnings to the Hamas terrorist organization over the weekend after four kites were found to have crossed the Gaza border and landed on the Israeli side, prompting residents of communities near the border to demand that the government take action.
In the years preceding the current war, kites and balloons loaded with incendiary material were regularly used to set fire to large areas of land on the Israeli side of the border.
On Sunday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz held a situational assessment regarding the threat with IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, the head of the National Security Council and senior military officials.
Following that meeting, Netanyahu said, “We will not return to the reality that existed before October 7. Israel will not allow the terrorist organization Hamas or any other entity in the Gaza Strip to return and threaten our communities and undermine the sense of security of our citizens.”
“My directive to the defense establishment and the IDF is to do everything against this lethal weapon – to strike it, to strike those operating it, to strike the place from which it was launched, to do everything in order to protect our citizens in the Gaza border communities and everywhere else,” Netanyahu said in a video message in Hebrew.
Katz also released a warning to Hamas: “Israel warns Hamas that if the launches towards Israel do not cease immediately, the IDF will act to increase the suppression of those responsible for the launches and evacuate the population from areas from which kites, drones, and balloons will be launched.”
The defense minister also instructed the IDF to “act forcefully” against kite launches crossing into the Gaza Envelope.
“All necessary steps must be taken, including the suppression of the Hamas leaders responsible for the launches and the operators themselves, the evacuation of neighborhoods and areas from which the launches will be carried out, and activity against the terrorist infrastructure in place,” Katz said.
“We view every launch as an act of war in every sense of the word – and anyone who organizes, launches or enables the launches will be dealt with immediately and with full severity. We will not allow a return to the reality of before October 7.”
Katz said that the government views the launch of the kites as a military threat.
“A balloon and kite shall be treated the same as a drone – with or without explosives,” he stated.
🚨 KITES FROM GAZA ARE NOW AN “ACT OF WAR,” ISRAEL SAYS
— Mossad Commentary (@MOSSADil) August 23, 2026
Another kite from Gaza was found this morning near Kfar Aza, the latest in a series of launches toward Israeli communities along the border.
Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the IDF to act forcefully, including… pic.twitter.com/4qW11MR9yP
Residents of Israel's Gaza border communities are demanding the IDF “locate and deal with each kite in a timely manner. Not after it has landed, not in retrospect. In real time,” said Uri Epstein, head of the Sha'ar Negev Regional Council. He also pointed out that the kites were found "with strings that stretch for kilometers" and warned that "these incidents must not become a routine that the security establishment learns to live with."
“A kite that crosses into Israeli territory is an event that requires a response. When there is no response, the message that goes to the other side is that it is okay to continue. We must not make this mistake again. We demand an immediate investigation of the events, and to ensure that there is a response that is implemented in a timely manner, not after the event is over,” Epstein told Radio 103FM.
Epstein pointed to Hezbollah's use of drones along Israel’s northern border as a reality that should not develop in the south.
“We have already seen on the northern border how the threats are constantly changing and developing, and the response must get ahead of them, not chase them,” Epstein said. “The writing is already in the sky. Now the IDF's responsibility is to act in time.”
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem, meanwhile, accused the Israeli government of using the kite incident as a pretext for continued military action in Gaza.
“The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) warned of the danger of the claims and threats issued by the Occupation regarding what it calls ‘the launching of kites,’ which are essentially children's toys in displacement camps, while the Israeli army occupies approximately 70% of the Gaza Strip,” a statement from Hamas said.
Qassem said the Israeli threats were “based on fabricated pretexts,” and “are an attempt to justify the continuation of aggression and violations against our people, even going so far as to threaten children in the Gaza Strip.”
He called on the U.S. government, along with participants of the Gaza Peace Plan and the UN Security Council, to pressure Israel “to halt this escalation of its aggression against our people and its attempts to undermine the ceasefire agreement, to which the Palestinian side is fully committed.”
Beginning in 2018, and in most of the following years until the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks, kites and balloons carrying incendiary or explosive material were used to ignite dozens of fires in the Gaza Envelope.
In 2018 alone, the fires destroyed nearly 3,000 acres of agricultural land and forests across the envelope. Launches of such incendiary devices also preceded attempts to breach the border fence, including shortly before the Oct. 7 invasion.
An International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem (ICEJ) delegation attended a tree-planting ceremony near the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council high school on Oct. 6, 2023, to replace trees destroyed by fires in previous years. The ICEJ had donated funds to Keren Kayemet LeYisrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) the previous year for the replanting effort. Regional council head Ofir Libstein attended the ceremony and was killed the following day while defending his community from Hamas terrorists.
When kites and balloons first began crossing the border fence in 2018, they did not initially carry incendiary or explosive materials. Israeli security officials now believe the launches were deliberate attempts to assess Israel’s security response to the phenomenon.
