Over the weekend, kites that were flown from Gaza landed in Kibbutz Nahal Oz, a kibbutz near the border with Gaza that had been infiltrated during the Oct. 7 attack. No suspicious items were attached to the kites.

Previously, Hamas would fly kites into Israel to which incendiary devices were attached. In this case, it was not clear who had sent the kites or for what purpose, but the IDF assesses that Hamas directed the kites to be sent to Israel, according to Israeli media reports.

A local council urged the IDF to investigate the incident and deal with it immediately.

“We demand that the IDF act against every kite that crosses into Israeli territory, locate it, and deal with it in real time. Not after it has landed. Not retroactively. In real time,” said Uri Epstein, head of the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council.

“These incidents must not become a routine the security establishment learns to live with. A kite that crosses into Israeli territory is an incident that requires a response. When there is no response, the message that gets across to the other side is that they can continue,” he explained.

“We must not make this mistake again. We demand an immediate investigation of the incidents, and to ensure that there is a response that is activated in real time, not after the incident has ended,” Epstein concluded.