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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan | |
| Israeli children counter flaming kites with peace balloons | |
| 2018-06-16 | |
| [IsraelTimes] Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", threats to send 5,000 flaming devices from Gazoo toward Israel fail to materialize, with residents focused on Eid al-Fitr and World Cup games. Army uses new radar system to try to intercept fire kites As the Hamas terror group threatened to launch 5,000 flaming kites and balloons at Israel on Friday, Israeli children at the Gazoo border countered with an airborne message of peace. At Kibbutz Nir Am, which has suffered a number of fires sparked by burning kites flown from Gazoo, children and residents launched balloons carrying candy towards the Paleostinian enclave, Hadashot TV news reported. Additionally, kibbutz members on Saturday will replant groves at Nir Am burned by the kites in a message of "they burn and we plant," the network said. Nir Am is one of a number of border communities to have had its fields burned as a result of flaming kites and balloons sent over the border as part of the Hamas-led "March of Return" protests. Hamas threats to send 5,000 flaming kites and balloons into Israel on Friday largely failed to materialize, with many Paleostinians busy with the three-day Eid al-Fitr holiday that caps the fasting month of Ramadan. Eid is traditionally a time of family visits and festive meals, with children getting new clothes, haircuts and gifts. Attention may also have focused on the World Cup in Russia, with two matches featuring Arab teams taking place Friday afternoon as Egypt, without the iconic Mohammad Salah, took on Uruguay and Iran played Morocco. Nevertheless, incendiary balloons and kites set 11 fires inside Israel, which were extinguished by the fire services and local volunteers. In light of Hamas’s call for the mass launching of incendiary devices toward Israel, Israeli military aircraft fired warning shots at a group of Paleostinians in Gazoo involved in the launching of burning balloons. "A short while ago, an aircraft fired warning shots at an incendiary balloon cell and at vehicles in the south of the Gazoo Strip," the military said in a statement. "The IDF views the use of incendiary balloons and kites with great severity and will operate to prevent their use," the military said. It was the third time in 48 hours that Israel shot up Gazooks as they attempted to start fires in Israeli territory with airborne arson devices. There were no reports of injuries in any of the Israeli strikes. Also Friday Hadashot news reported that Israel for the first time used a new radar to find kites and balloons, which were then intercepted by drones. The radar, initially designed to detect gliders, was calibrated to pick up the kites. The method of firing warning shots appeared to be a new tactic that the military was looking to adopt in order to counter the threat posed by these kites and balloons, which have burned thousands of acres of farmland, forests and nature reserves in the regions around the Gazoo Strip, according to Israeli officials. Earlier on Friday, a booby-trapped balloon was flown into Israeli territory, landing on a highway in the Sha’ar Hanegev region. Police sappers were called to the scene and destroyed the balloon and the bomb attached to it in a controlled kaboom, police said. The military has sought to counter these kites and balloons with teams of soldiers operating drones. Israeli officials have deemed the drone program a success, but it has not provided a perfect solution. The Tax Authority estimated that the damage so far amounts to upwards of NIS 5 million ($1.4 million).
Paleostinians launched several dozen incendiary kites and balloons towards the Gazoo vicinity, causing 11 fires. | |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #9 Didn't someone invent a modern dirigible which could float higher than unassisted vision, with a surveillance package and ultra-precise rockets? |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2018-06-16 19:59 |
| #8 incendiary balloon cell That sure invokes fear. |
| Posted by: bbrewer126 2018-06-16 11:16 |
| #7 Won't happen - but somebody should fire their teachers |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2018-06-16 09:08 |
| #6 Peace artillery would be more effective. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2018-06-16 07:58 |
| #5 #3 - absolutely! Airborne message of peace. |
| Posted by: Frank G 2018-06-16 07:53 |
| #4 It is time for this to end |
| Posted by: newc 2018-06-16 03:40 |
| #3 My "Peace Balloon" would be Spooky. |
| Posted by: gorb 2018-06-16 02:06 |
| #2 In Gaza, the Muslims are joyous. "Oy, vey, how they'd love to destroy us. They even run riot On Ramadan diet!" The goyim: "Im Westen nichts Neues." |
| Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 2018-06-16 01:11 |
| #1 99 freed balloons Against 5000 ("Gott mit uns")? etc. |
| Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 2018-06-16 01:08 |