For the past week or so, residents of Israel’s Gaza border communities must have seen the sight of kites crossing from the enclave and thought, “Here we go again.”
Years before October 7, incendiary kites and balloons (including the bizarre incident of an incendiary condom) became one of Hamas’s favored methods of harassing southern Israel. Fields were burned, fires became routine, and what began as a seemingly crude tactic developed into an organized campaign that Israel struggled for years to contain.
That is why the appearance of kites over the border again cannot simply be treated as a curiosity while the IDF waits to establish whether they constitute a broader phenomenon.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz were therefore right on Sunday to warn Hamas that continued launches would bring an increased Israeli response. Katz went further, insisting that Israel would not return to the reality that existed before October 7.
That promise must be backed up with concrete action.
At least six kites crossed from Gaza into Israel over the past week, with other reports putting the number higher. None of those recovered so far carried explosives, and no Israelis were endangered. The IDF said it believes Palestinian youth, some only 12 or 13 years old, are being used to launch them, likely at the direction of Hamas terrorists.
The most troubling comment to emerge over the weekend came from a military official who said the IDF was taking the incidents seriously but needed to “wait and see if this becomes a trend.”
Israel must stop the trend before it becomes an even greater threat
Israel has already seen this trend before, and it must nip the issue in the bud this time.
In 2018, incendiary kites and balloons began appearing over the Gaza border. What initially looked primitive became an organized method of attack. Fields, forests, and nature reserves across southern Israel burned, and thousands of acres were destroyed. Explosives were attached to some of the airborne devices, and Israelis living near Gaza became accustomed to another form of terrorism that Hamas could calibrate according to its needs.
The IDF did respond at times, including by striking Hamas positions and squads preparing incendiary devices. Yet the pattern became painfully familiar during the years before October 7. Hamas would push, Israel would assess whether the latest provocation justified escalation, and life along the border would absorb another deterioration in what was considered normal.
Residents of the Gaza border communities have every right to be alarmed by language suggesting that Israel should again wait to determine whether something is a trend.
Uri Epstein, head of the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council, put the concern well. The issue is not whether a particular kite turns out to contain explosives. By the time soldiers discover that it does, the question has already been answered too late. Residents should certainly not be the people discovering unidentified objects from Gaza and then informing the military.
That does not mean Israel should launch a major military operation because a kite crosses the border. Proportionality and judgment remain necessary, but what has to disappear is the idea that Hamas is entitled to a certain number of provocations while Israel gathers evidence that a pattern has developed.
A border is either defended, or it is not. If Hamas permits organized launch sites to operate, it should understand there will be a price. The IDF should also have clear procedures for detecting, intercepting, and handling anything that crosses from Gaza before residents stumble across it.
Hamas adaptations to Israel's threat classifications
Israel spent years drawing distinctions between rockets, incendiary balloons, border riots, and other forms of harassment emanating from Gaza. Hamas understood those distinctions and learned how to operate within them. It could apply pressure without necessarily provoking a response large enough to threaten its rule.
October 7 exposed the disastrous consequences of allowing Hamas to determine the tempo along the border.
Katz’s declaration that “a balloon is treated like a kite, and a kite is treated like a drone” therefore carries importance beyond the latest incidents. Hamas must understand that the old rules no longer exist.
Israel has paid far too high a price to relearn this lesson. The kites crossing the border today may contain nothing, but the next ones may not. We should not wait and see.