“In order for Netanyahu to be satisfied, in order for Trump to be satisfied, in order for Katz to be satisfied. They want to deprive us from the things we love,” a young Palestinian child from Gaza said, while tearing his paper kite and bursting into tears.

The video of the Palestinian child circulated after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on Sunday, August 23, that they had ordered Israeli forces to take forceful actions against anyone launching paper kites from the Gaza Strip.

These actions include airstrikes, targeted assassinations and the evacuation of residential neighborhoods.

“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 stated.

The announcement came after the Israeli Army claimed that four paper kites were flown over the Israeli Kibbutz of Nahal Oz near the Gaza Strip over the weekend, although “nothing suspicious” was found on them, and they did not pose any danger to the public.

Yet, the Israeli Army has accused Hamas of launching the kites, linking them to the incendiary-laden kites, balloons, and drones that allegedly troubled southern Israel in previous years.

Hours after the announcement was made, Israeli warplanes launched strikes on a warehouse in az-Zawayda town, and two other areas on Salah al-Din Street in central Gaza, killing at least three people, including a four-year-old child. Several other people were wounded in the assault as well.

On Monday, August 24, at least seven Palestinians, including two children, were killed and several others were wounded in Israeli airstrikes and gunfire in different parts of the besieged enclave.

Israel’s allegations about the kites and the escalation that followed them came one week after US envoy Jared Kushner reportedly asked Netanyahu to de-escalate attacks on Gaza, in order for phase two of the US-brokered ceasefire deal to proceed.

Read more: Israel escalates aggression in Gaza, Kushner returns to Washington empty-handed

Hamas dismissed Israel’s claims as fabricated pretexts to justify further violations

For its part, Hamas denied the Israeli accusations about the kites, saying that they are merely the toys of children in displacement camps.

Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem argued that Israel’s threats regarding the kites “are based on fabricated pretexts” and constitute “an attempt to justify the continuation of the aggression and violations against” the Palestinian people, including the children of Gaza.

Qassem urged the Trump administration, mediators and guarantors of the ceasefire deal, alongside the Board of Peace to pressure Israel to stop the “unchecked aggression” against Palestinians. He also accused Israel of seeking to undermine the ceasefire, which “the Palestinian side was fully committed to”.

Trump’s Board of Peace complies with Israel’s demands on Gaza’s kites

On Monday, the Israeli government gave the Board of Peace (BoP), chaired by US President Donald Trump, a three-day ultimatum to halt all kite launches from Gaza, warning that Israel would otherwise escalate its aggression on the war-torn territory.

Although unnamed officials from the BoP were cited by Israeli media outlets as saying “It’s very difficult to deal with something that any child can put together”, the US-led entity complied with Israel’s demands.

Israeli TV channel i24NEWS said on Tuesday, August 25 that it was told by a BoP member that Hamas was informed to stop “all terrorist activities, including the launching of kites” through the established mechanism.

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