[News] Israel to expel Palestinians in Gaza over kites flown by children

[Anti-Imperialist News]

middleeasteye.net
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-orders-gaza-expulsions-over-kites-flown-children>
Israel to expel Palestinians in Gaza over kites flown by children
Nadav Rapaport
August 29, 2026
------------------------------

The Israeli <https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel>government has
instructed its military to expel Palestinians
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine>from areas of the Gaza
Strip where children are flying kites and releasing balloons, Israel’s
Channel 13 reported
<https://13tv.co.il/item/news/politics/security/gaza-905332266/>on Thursday.

According to the report, Israeli defence minister Israel Katz told army
chief Eyal Zamir and other senior military officials that “the ultimatum we
issued following the launching of balloons and kites from the Gaza Strip
towards Negev communities [in southern Israel] has expired”.

“Every launching of balloons and kites from Gaza towards southern
communities will be met with a severe response,” Katz said during a meeting
with the military’s top command.

>From Israel’s perspective, Katz reportedly said, “every launch is an act of
terrorism”, referring to kites and balloons that the Israeli army itself
deemed a week ago to pose no danger to Israeli civilians.

“From now on, every launch will be met with a forceful response against
those responsible, the organisers and the perpetrators,” Katz said, adding
that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered the new measure.

The Israeli military, Katz said, “will act with all necessary means,
including evacuating the population from an area or neighbourhood from
which launches are carried out, in order to deal with the centres of
terrorism”.

Katz added that Israel would not allow Hamas or any other group to threaten
Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip.

“Whoever does so will pay a heavy price,” he said.
Public demand for assassinations

In recent months, Israeli media have reported on kites being flown from the
Gaza Strip, including an increase in the number of Palestinian kites
crossing into Israel.

The newspaper Israel Hayom reported
<https://www.israelhayom.co.il/news/defense/article/21294846>on Thursday
that Israel’s security establishment sees Hamas as responsible for the
increase, claiming the group is acting out of frustration over Israel’s
deadly attacks on the besieged enclave.

Last week, Haaretz reported
<https://www.haaretz.co.il/news/politics/2026-08-22/ty-article/.premium/000001a0-2959-dc38-a7f1-3f7f31930000>that
four kites had been found in communities along the Gaza-Israel boundary,
prompting residents to demand a military response.

“This is how it started before 7 October,” one Israeli local community said
last week, adding that it “will not accept a policy of containment when it
comes to our security”.

Ori Epstein, head of the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council, said
<https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18HFZmNbXn/>on Sunday that “a kite that
crosses into Israeli territory is an incident that requires a response”.

<https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/i-want-my-father-back-gazas-orphans-safety-has-become-distant-memory>

For Gaza's orphans, the safety of childhood vanished with their parents

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“When there’s no response,” the Israeli local politician added, “the
message that gets conveyed to the other side is that it’s allowed to
continue.”

According to Channel 13
<https://13tv.co.il/item/news/politics/security/fb5qy-905330534/>, the
Israeli military has responded to the public demands, with Zamir ordering
an increase in targeted assassinations across the Gaza Strip earlier this
week.

“Israel will not allow Hamas or any other party in the Gaza Strip to return
to threatening our communities and undermining our citizens’ sense of
security,” Netanyahu said
<https://13tv.co.il/item/news/politics/security/bpfn4-905326542/?pid=94335>on
Monday after meeting Zamir.

The Israeli prime minister warned Hamas that if the kite launches did not
stop, the military would strike “those responsible for the launches and
will evacuate the population from areas from which kites, drones and
balloons are launched”.

As Israeli threats over kites crossing into Israel increased, local
non-governmental organisations
<https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gaza-parents-urged-stop-kids-flying-kites-after-israel-warning-hamas-2026-08-25/>in
Gaza, in coordination with Hamas, urged parents to stop their children from
flying kites.

“We are working tirelessly on the ground and doing everything possible to
stop this practice,” the organisations said in a public statement, adding
that they wanted to protect the lives of innocent children.

While Israel carried out strikes across the Gaza Strip this week, killing
Palestinian civilians, senior Hamas official Basem Naim commented
<https://x.com/DropSiteNews/status/2091659454651490793?s=20>on the Israeli
threats over what Israel has described as “kite terrorism”.

“In a surreal paradox, a nuclear state that practises terrorism daily,
charged with committing genocide in Gaza, mobilises and issues orders to
deal forcefully with paper kites coming out of Gaza,” Naim said, stressing
that children were flying the kites.
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