Flaming kites are not Palestinian child’s play
Ignoring that Palestinian flaming kite terror in the past has burned 35-40 sq. km. of nature reserves and forests and agricultural land, killed thousands of animals including falcons, foxes, jackals, tortoises, lizards, rodents, and reptiles, the PA mocks Israel for fearing children playing with kites flying into Israel from Gaza
PA: "Many wonder what fear a kite can evoke against a military force"
PA: "If this nuclear state is afraid of kites, it is clear that this [Zionist] entity is in a state of security crisis and mental instability. After all, the Gaza Strip has been completely destroyed, so why all this fear of kites?"
"Paper kites and the [Zionist] entity is burning."
Gazans are once again threatening to use flaming kites as a weapon of terror against Israel, and official PA and Fatah media are once again pushing a lie that Israel is cruelly depriving poor Gazan children of innocent toys.
These so-called "toys", however, have historically been used for horrific terrorism: - flaming kite attacks burned over 35,000–40,000 dunams (approx. 8,600–10,000 acres) destroying nature reserves, forests and agricultural land, and killing thousands of animals including tortoises, rodents, foxes, jackals, lizards and other reptiles during the peak of "kite terrorism" between 2018 and 2021. [Jewish National Fund and Israel's Nature and Parks Authority]
So far, it seems the Palestinians are only testing to see Israel's response, but potential for damage is enormous. The following photos illustrate some of the destruction caused by such kites and balloons in 2018, as documented by Palestinian Media Watch at that time.
[Channel 20, June 4, 2018]
Tortoises burnt to death by fires lit by flaming Gazan kites
[Photo by Mendy Rizel, Rotter.net, June 29, 2018]
According to Palestinian "children's game" rules, players may catch a beautiful falcon like this...
[Andreas Trepte, www.photo-natur.de]
The falcon is then sent to fly from Gaza to Israel
where it falls to its death, blackening trees, like this...
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[Photos: Israel's Nature and Parks Authority]
Yet the PA repeats the lies that were debunked years ago while the Gaza Envelope's agriculture and parks threaten to burn once again.
A Fatah spokesman mockingly stated that Israel must be "in a state of security crisis and mental instability" since it is so afraid of kites:
Fatah Spokesman in the Gaza Strip Mundhir Al-Hayek: "I don't know how to continue talking when I hear a nuclear state like Israel asking Palestinian children not to fly kites. I don't know in what context this matter came up, but if this nuclear state is afraid of kites, it is clear that this entity (i.e., Israel) is in a state of security crisis and mental instability. After all, the Gaza Strip has been completely destroyed, so why all this fear of kites?"
[Fatah-run Awdah TV, Facebook page, Aug. 24, 2026]
Official PA TV broadcast a statement by an activist in Tunisia, transmitting the libel that cruel Israel is stealing the childhood from Gazan children. But while the activist tried to sell the PA narrative, a sign at the rally showed the real intention behind the kites as it included photos of fires and text about Israel 'burning':
Tunisian activist: "Recently, there have been new incidents, where [Palestinian] children play with kites, which are their only way of having a good time, their only way to convey a message to the world to relate something about their childhood. They didn't pick up weapons, didn't throw stones. They just flew kites, put them up in the air and the sky to state their message. The occupation (i.e., Israel) is built on lies, built without a foundation, afraid of everything, even afraid of a kite."
Sign with images of fire: "Paper kites and the entity (i.e., Israel) is burning."
[Official PA TV, Aug. 31, 2026]
An editorial cartoon ridiculing Israel's vigilance against Gazan terror kites appeared on PA TV:
Caption: "Master Trump... we are facing an existential threat!"
[Official PA TV, Pens of the Press, Aug. 25, 2026]
Meanwhile, the identical mocking was the basis for columns in the official PA daily newspaper two days straight:
Headline: "Gaza's children: Kites hanging in fear"
"Many wonder what fear a kite can evoke against a military force possessing weapons and aircraft, making such a comparison seem absurd...
[Official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 25, 2026]
Headline: "A string in the sky"
"They want to take away the thing that makes us happy… The occupation (i.e., Israel) and war do not only test people's ability to survive, but reach a deeper level, to the definition of life itself, and to the small things that allow living it. Therefore, a kite in a child's hand becomes a political and human question at the same time: What kind of world is this that forces a child to defend his right to be happy?"
[Official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 26, 2026]
Al-Hayat Al-Jadida should re-read its own pages. Back in 2019, it published a column by a Lebanese politician who marveled at the Palestinian ingenuity for using kites as weapons:
"This is a creative people. It resists through weapons, kites, balloons (refers to flaming kites and balloons sent to Israel from the Gaza Strip –Ed.)"
[Official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 2, 2019]
The Palestinian Authority must think people have short memories, because this isn't just bad propaganda from the PA - it's recycled propaganda that insults the intelligence of those who kept tabs on Gazan military tactics before October 7.
PMW called this out back in 2018, at a time when flaming kites and balloons with explosives were being launched from Gaza . Then, too, the PA spokesman described the kites as a "children's game":
PA government spokesman: "A children's game such as kites (i.e., flaming arson-kites) used by peaceful protesters..."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 22, 2018]
With its kite libel, it is the PA - not Israel - which is exploiting children for the sake of demonizing Israel.