Board of Peace official: Halt ‘all militant activity’ in Gaza, including kites; Israel must limit fire to ‘genuine and imminent’ threats

An official from the US-backed Board of Peace says in a statement that “all militant activity” in Gaza, including kite flying, must stop, and that Israel must comply with the ceasefire in the Strip, after Jerusalem threatened a forceful response if the Hamas terror group revives a tactic of launching incendiary kites over the border.

“All militant activity in Gaza must stop, including the flying of kites. We have conveyed this message directly through the established mechanism,” an official of the Board of Peace tells multiple outlets.

“Israel, too, must comply with the ceasefire; military action cannot extend beyond responding to genuine and imminent threats,” he adds.

The statement comes after Israel appealed to the Board of Peace over the issue. It marks a rare admonition of Israel by the Board, which has largely refrained from publicly criticizing Israeli military activity in Gaza in recent months.

Officials have told The Times of Israel that senior US representatives and board members expressed concern during their recent meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel’s interpretation of “imminent threats” in Gaza is too “vague” and risks stalling advancement of Washington’s peace plan, which would see Hamas disarmed and have Israel withdraw.

In addition, Gaza parents have been warned to stop their children from flying kites in the war-ravaged enclave. The popular committees, comprising representatives of local non-government organizations and charities that run Gaza displacement camps and shelters in the Hamas-run area of the Strip, issued the warning in a statement late yesterday.

The announcement was coordinated with Hamas authorities, a source in the terror group says.

“We are working tirelessly on the ground and doing everything possible to stop this practice, not to restrict the childhood of our children, who have already been deprived of the most basic rights to play and live in safety, but to protect their innocent lives,” the statement says.

A total of 12 kites and four balloons have reportedly crossed from Gaza into Israeli border communities this month.

So far, none of the kites launched from Gaza in recent days have carried any suspicious items on them. But many have associated the objects with the kites and balloons carrying incendiary devices that were launched by Gaza terror groups for a number of years in the run-up to the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, onslaught, in which terrorists in hang gliders crossed the border.

A senior Israeli defense official says that Hamas is trying to provoke Israel by encouraging Gazans to fly kites across the border.

A Hamas official tells Reuters the group has complained to ceasefire mediators that “Israel was making fake pretexts to continue the war on Gaza.”

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.