Gaza parents have been warned to stop their children flying kites, after Israel issued a warning that kites, balloons and drones launched from the Gaza Strip could be treated as military threats.
The popular committees, comprising representatives of local non-government organisations and charities that run Gaza displacement camps and shelters, issued the warning in a statement late on Monday.
The announcement was coordinated with Hamas authorities, a source in the 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.
In the past month, several kites were spotted drifting from Gaza into Israel, alarming Israelis who live in the nearby villages which came under attack by Hamas in the October 7, 2023 assault that sparked the Gaza war.
Although no suspicious materials were found on the recovered kites, Israeli authorities point to previous incidents in 2018 when incendiary kites and balloons were used to start fires in Israeli agricultural areas
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hamas 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 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.
A senior Israeli defence official said that Hamas was trying to provoke Israel by encouraging Gazans to fly kites across the border.
A Hamas official told Reuters 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.
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