Acting forcefully against kites is one of Israel’s latest purported security concerns. “My directive to the defence establishment and the IDF is to do everything against this lethal weapon – to strike it, to strike those operating it, to strike the place from which it was launched, to do everything in order to protect our citizens in the Gaza border communities and everywhere else,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Defence Minister Israel Katz echoed Netanyahu’s statement, saying he instructed the military “to act immediately and forcefully” against any launches from Gaza which, he said are “an act of war in every respect.”

The kites which the Israeli military found in Gaza, however, had no explosive devices. Even Israeli media confirmed as much.

Since no devices were launched, and Israel is treating any launch as an attack even if it is just a kite, the rhetoric exposes noting other than a direct threat of additional Israeli airstrikes that will kill........

© Middle East Monitor