Burning kites from Gaza damage Israeli farms, wildlife
Jun 20, 2018
After years of rocket attacks and militant infiltrations from Gaza, residents of southern Israel are now coping with a new kind of threat: incendiary kites and balloons that have damaged farmlands and nature reserves
KIBBUTZ NIR AM, Israel — After years of rocket attacks and militant infiltrations from Gaza, residents of southern Israel are now coping with a new kind of threat: incendiary kites and balloons that have damaged farmlands and nature reserves.
The crude devices launched by Palestinians inside the blockaded territory have not been lethal. But they have sparked fires that have damaged agriculture, killed wildlife and whipped up considerable indignation.
The phenomenon is the latest twist in nearly three months of intermittent Palestinian border protests. To many Israelis the "kite terrorism" is yet more evidence of implacable — and creative — Palestinian hostility.
But viewed another way it is a desperate ploy on behalf of the 2 million Palestinians largely penned into the impoverished seaside strip in a decade-old blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt.
