Israel escalates Gaza response over incendiary kites

Israeli officials said they would respond with expanded strikes and forced relocation of Palestinian residents unless the launching of weaponized kites from Gaza ceases immediately. The threat represents a dramatic escalation in tensions over the use of the improvised aerial devices, which have been deployed repeatedly across the border in recent months.

The kites, often small and difficult to detect, have been fitted with burning materials and flown across the border fence into Israeli territory, where they have ignited fires in agricultural areas and forests. Israeli security forces have attributed the incidents to Palestinian activists seeking to damage Israeli property and demonstrate defiance of the blockade on Gaza.

Palestinian groups have defended the tactic as a form of peaceful protest against Israeli military operations and the lengthy Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the coastal enclave. They contend the kites represent a low-cost method of resistance available to residents with limited resources.

The Israeli military statement warning of intensified operations follows weeks of periodic flare-ups along the Gaza border. Regional tensions remain high following previous rounds of conflict between Israel and Hamas, the militant group governing Gaza.