Israel accused of using kites as pretext to justify escalating Gaza attacks

A four-year-old child was among three Palestinians killed in Israeli air attacks in central Gaza on Sunday, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to escalate attacks over the alleged launching of paper kites from the war-torn enclave.

On Sunday, Israel fired missiles at a warehouse in az-Zawayda, reducing it to rubble, and then carried out strikes near Salah al-Din Street, killing four-year-old Muhammad Abdel Salam Taha.

Israeli drone attacks also targeted southern Khan Younis and a tent sheltering displaced people at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, resulting in more casualties.

Standing amid the destruction in az-Zawayda, witness Abu Ahmed expressed widespread despair over the relentless violence. “There is no ceasefire; there is nothing. We want solutions; we want to live in peace,” he said.

The deadly bombardment comes as Palestinian and Israeli affairs experts warn that the government is fabricating a security crisis around children’s toys to derail ceasefire agreements, enforce demographic changes and ensure Netanyahu’s political survival.

After the attack, Netanyahu and his Defence Minister Israel Katz issued a joint statement on Sunday threatening severe retaliation over the toys. They also threatened the forced displacement of Palestinians from areas “used as launch sites for kites, drones and balloons”.

“There will be no return to the state of affairs prior to October 7 [2023],” the joint statement said, adding that Israel will not allow Hamas or any other group in Gaza “to threaten our communities again and compromise our citizens’ sense of security”.

The attacks came despite the Israeli military acknowledging that the recovered kites contained no explosives and were simply flown by children. While the joint statement cited “kites, drones, and balloons”, military inspections confirmed finding only 10 paper kites – all completely free of explosives and flown by children in displacement camps.