Unable to Stop Flaming Kites, Israel Moves to Choke Off Gaza Commerce

The new restrictions are aimed at forcing Hamas to crack down on kites and balloons that have caused hundreds of fires in Israel.

© Menahem Kahana/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Israeli firefighters tried to extinguish a fire caused by an incendiary device attached to a kite that floated into Israel from Gaza last month.

By DAVID M. HALBFINGER, The New York Times
JERUSALEM

[post_ads]Unable to thwart the waves of incendiary devices lofted into Israel on kites and birthday balloons from the Gaza Strip, the Israeli government opted for a punitive response on Monday, clamping down on cargo shipments in and out of Gaza in hopes that its rulers would halt the airborne arson themselves.

The new restrictions at Gaza’s main cargo crossing ban the import of all goods except food, medicine and “humanitarian equipment,” as well as all exports.

The militant organization Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip and has encouraged the arsonist kite fliers, called the move a “crime against humanity.” Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a rival Gaza militant group, called it a “declaration of war.”

© Wissam Nassar for The New York Times

Palestinian protesters built kites in May with rags dangling from their tails to burn when the kites are flown into Israel.

Unable to thwart the waves of incendiary devices lofted into Israel on kites and birthday balloons from the Gaza Strip, the Israeli government opted for a punitive response on Monday, clamping down on cargo shipments in and out of Gaza in hopes that its rulers would halt the airborne arson themselves.
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The new restrictions at Gaza’s main cargo crossing ban the import of all goods except food, medicine and “humanitarian equipment,” as well as all exports.

© Said Khatib/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The Kerem Shalom crossing is the main entry point for cargo coming into Gaza. New Israeli restrictions ban all imports there except food, medicine and humanitarian equipment.

The militant organization Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip and has encouraged the arsonist kite fliers, called the move a “crime against humanity.” Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a rival Gaza militant group, called it a “declaration of war.”