Fighting kite terror

The IDF deploys new technology to put an end to the launching of incendiary objects from Gaza

By MARK WEISS
Updated: JUNE 27, 2018 20:03
Palestinians in central Gaza fly a kite loaded with flammable material to be thrown at Israel (photo credit: IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA/REUTERS)
Palestinians in central Gaza fly a kite loaded with flammable material to be thrown at Israel
(photo credit: IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA/REUTERS)
IN LATE June, the Israeli army began using lasers and sensors to combat the kite terrorism that has wrought havoc on Gaza-vicinity communities in southern Israel, and brought Israel and Hamas perilously close to another major conflagration.
The new sensors are designed to detect incendiary kites and balloons, which usually evade the radar systems deployed in the area. Once a sensor identifies a flaming object, military drones will be launched to intercept it.
The army stressed that the deployment of the cutting-edge technology was still in the experimental stage and a comprehensive solution to the incendiary kites was still a way off.
The deployment came after more than 8,000 acres of forest and agricultural land on the Israeli side of the border were reduced to ash over the past two months, causing tens of millions of shekels in damage.
The daily arson attacks from the air prompted local residents to demand a tougher response before the entire Gaza periphery turned into scorched fields. Military intelligence determined that what had started as a local initiative from Gaza protestors had developed into a well-planned campaign, coordinated by Hamas cells, along the entire length of the Gaza border.
After the Palestinians ignored repeated IDF warnings to stop the aerial arson campaign, Israel limited the entry of helium into Gaza and warned that it would stop the transfer of all helium across the crossing points if the Palestinians continued to use the gas for the terror balloons.
In the middle of June, Israel decided to step up its response to the kite terrorism. Warning shots were fired close to people releasing the balloons and kites and a Hamas observation post close to a launching site was destroyed. Israeli aircraft then attacked the vehicle of one of the leaders of the kite cells.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to deduct the costs of agricultural damage caused by terror kites from tax revenues Israel transfers to the Palestinian Authority, even though the PA has no control over events in Gaza.
But the Israeli actions failed to deter the Palestinian rulers of Gaza, and Hamas threatened to launch 5,000 kites during weekend protests on the border.
The Israeli leadership stepped up the ante, declaring that kite terrorism would be met with attacks against Hamas infrastructure targets. Netanyahu warned that Hamas would pay a heavy price if the incendiary kites kept coming.
“The intensity will be stepped up as necessary. We are prepared for any scenario and our enemies would do well to understand this – now,” he said in a speech to an IDF officers' course graduation ceremony on June 20. Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman added that he had only one thing to say about the latest Hamas kite and balloon attack the day before: “It was a mistake!” On the same day, Israel attacked 45 Hamas targets across Gaza, and 25 fires caused from kites and balloons were extinguished on the Israeli side of the border.
The two sides were again hovering on the brink and another war looked like a distinct possibility. The tensions eased but the possibility of a renewed flare-up remains.
Some politician advocated surgical strikes against kite launching cells – a policy the IDF employs against terrorists firing Fighting kite terror The IDF deploys new technology to put an end to the launching of incendiary objects from Gaza By Mark WeissTHE JERUSALEM REPORT JULY 9, 2018 15 rockets at Israel – but the military cautioned that targeting kite flyers, many of whom are teenagers, would lead to a rapid security escalation that could lead to war.
Hamas discovered the primitive but effective new weapon almost by chance during the weekly March of Return protests it orchestrated along the Gaza border. More than 130 Palestinians were killed, many of them members of Hamas and other armed groups, and thousands wounded during the more than two months of protests which succeeded in putting the plight of Gaza back in the headlines. However, the IDF prevented any significant breach of the border and by the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in mid-June it appeared that the protests had run their course.
The one dramatic success for Hamas was the discovery of kite terrorism as an effective means of causing damage and disrupting life for the 50,000 Gaza periphery residents, even though the fires have yet to claim a single Israeli life. The kites or balloons, launched from Gaza, are attached to petrol bombs or other inflammatory liquid and some carry explosives.
Army drones managed to destroy some of the kites , intercepting more than 500 midair, but enough got through to leave Israeli firefighting crews tackling blazes every day along the 60 kilometer (37 miles) border, sometimes at more than a dozen different locations simultaneously.
In weighing its response to the kite terrorism, Israel was wary of handing another propaganda victory to Hamas because, despite the deadly nature of the incendiary devices, the flying of kites is still perceived as an innocent pastime for children. Israel has already been widely condemned by the international community for the use of disproportionate force in quelling the Gaza border protests. Soldiers targeting teenagers flying kites will inevitably be seized upon by Hamas to cynically portray another David versus Goliath scenario.
The Israel Nature and Parks Authority says the impact on local flora and fauna has been devastating. A third of the Karmiya Nature Reserve, a part of the Be'eri Forest, and all of the Nir Am Nature Reserve were destroyed.
INPA official Uri Naveh said the environmental damage caused to the area was nothing short of catastrophic.
“The western Negev area is the natural habitat for rare species of plants and many species of reptiles, which have sustained catastrophic damage that will take decades to repair,” Naveh said. “Moreover, if the fires are a recurring event, the habitat may change completely. Nature knows how to deal with a large fire every 10 years or so, but if it happens in short intervals, without the habitat having time to recover, it changes so dramatically that it becomes something else.”
Operation Protective Edge, the second Gaza war, in the summer of 2014, resulted in 42 months of quiet in the Gaza periphery. Hamas, which suffered a significant military blow, stopped firing at Israel and even took steps to prevent the smaller militias shooting rockets. During this period the Gaza periphery thrived and thousands of Israelis moved to the area.
But the period of quiet is now over and the day to day conditions for Gaza residents have only got worse, partly due to fact that Hamas diverts scarce funds for military expenditure, including the construction of an extensive network of tunnels.
The Israeli leadership has rejected all initiatives to improve the dire humanitarian situation on the ground, including suggestions from some of its own ministers and proposals from the army. Hamas held weekly demonstrations along the border and discovered the devastating effect of the kites, which it views as a legitimate and non-lethal weapon. Israel believes that Hamas still does not seek a large-scale clash, but because of the dire conditions in Gaza it is willing to take the risk by continuing the kite-flying.
While Israel continues to work on a technological solution to intercept the incendiary devices, the situation remains precarious. A serious error from either side could spark Gaza’s First Kite War: a war that neither side wants.


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