Israel Threatens Forceful Gaza Strikes After 4 Border Kites Land Near Nahal Oz

3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 24

Israel said it would intensify strikes on Gaza after four kites landed near Kibbutz Nahal Oz over the weekend, with Defence Minister Israel Katz declaring “zero tolerance” for kites, balloons and drones.
Military sources cited in Israeli media said the kites carried no explosives and posed no immediate threat, but officials suspect Hamas launched them to test Israel’s response.
Hamas denied involvement, calling the kites children’s toys from displacement camps and accusing Israel of using them as a pretext to keep attacking despite the ceasefire agreed last October.
Israeli strikes continued over the weekend and overnight: Palestinian officials reported deaths in Nuseirat, al-Zuwayda and Deir al-Balah, while Israel said those targeted included Hamas operatives.
The flare-up revives a tactic that before the war burned Israeli farmland and forests, and comes in a conflict that has killed about 1,200 people in Israel and more than 74,420 in Gaza.