Gaza's "fire kites" threaten further attacks as Israel tightens blockade

Palestinians in Gaza have vowed to escalate criminal attacks against Israel after tightening restrictions on the beleaguered enclave, blocking deliveries of fuel and gas.

The so-called "Son of al-Zawari" unit launched hundreds of kites and balloons laden with coals and explosives in Israel since April during border demonstrations. Their members, who often seem to wear Guy Fawkes masks, promised Wednesday to continue their badault until Israel lifts a crippling blockade of 11 years.

Israel, which has been deploying drones to smuggle home-made weapons for $ 3, said the bombings caused more than 750 fires, burning more than 2,600 hectares of land. On Tuesday, Israel reported that an incendiary balloon from Gaza had landed in a kindergarten yard near the border.

The same day, Israel blocked all deliveries of fuel and gas through its only goods that were heading to Gaza until Sunday. They have also reduced Gaza's authorized fishing area from six nautical miles to only three, strangling a life-saving financial lifeline for the 1.8 million Gazans.

The kite flyers responded that they would throw more incendiary bombs.

"Our units have been out since the morning to fly their balloons … to prove to everyone that we do not receive orders from anyone and that our peaceful resistance continues until our demands are met. be satisfied and that the seat be lifted ". In a shared online statement,

"Plus [Israel] squeezes the siege, the more fires we light, the more we will spread the oil slick to reach more and more distances," they add.

Tensions between Gaza and Israel peaked this week when militants fired dozens of rockets into Israel that bombed dozens of airstrikes in the most intense exchanges since the conflict of 2014 [19659002] the violence would herald the beginning of the fourth war between Israel and Gaza since 2008. A tense truce, allegedly negotiated by Egypt, is in place

The bitter conflict has intensified over the past 12 years. recent weeks since hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began. weekly marches at the border demanding the right to return to the land that was imposed upon them during the 1948 war that surrounded the creation of Israel.

Since March 30, more than 130 Palestinians have been killed and tens of thousands wounded by Israeli gunfire at border gates. No Israeli has died.

Palestinians argue that they peacefully protest an occupation and were fired with real ammunition.

The Israeli army says protesters were violent towards soldiers, tried to cut fences and caused hundreds of thousands of pounds of damage from kites.

Israel has decided to increase sanctions against Gaza pressure on a 30-mile-long enclave that is already suffering from chronic shortages of electricity, food and water.

Israel has declared that on Tuesday and Sunday, no delivery of fuel and gas would pbad through Kerem Shalom, the only pbadage of goods between Israel and Gaza.

Kerem Shalom, which is now open to food and medicine only on a case-by-case basis, was already closed to most imports since July 9th.

This is part of the Israeli authorities' commitment to take a firmer stand against burning kites. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, who is under increasing political pressure, ordered the army to stop them.

The question would have given rise to a debate between the Israeli Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot and the Minister of Education of the far right Naftali Bennett at a meeting of the Sunday security cabinet

. Eisenkot reportedly said he could shoot at children

Hamas, the militant group that has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, has been the target of rumors. had agreed to stop the incendiary devices in an agreement negotiated by Egypt to prevent Gaza from being "dragged into a war".

The kite flyers denied the news Wednesday saying that they were "lies spread by the enemy". to comment.