Israel threats to expel Gazans over kite-flying ‘outrageous’, says UN

The United Nations has strongly condemned Israel's threat to expel people from areas in Gaza where kites, drones and balloons are launched from, deeming it a gross violation of international human rights and humanitarian law. In a statement, a spokeswoman for the UN's rights office expressed her disappointment at the "outrageous" rhetoric coming from Israeli leaders.

The threat of expulsion was issued by Israel after a recent surge in launches of kites, drones and balloons towards its territory from Gaza. These incidents, which have included around 10 recovered kites in recent days, have reignited memories of past waves of incendiary kites and balloons launched from Gaza, which have caused fires in Israeli agricultural lands in the past. Israel's military suspects Hamas of being behind the launches, which do not carry explosives and may have been a test of Israel's response.

Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas' political bureau, dismissed the kites as toys being flown by children searching for normalcy amidst the destruction. In a separate statement, Hamas accused Israel of using the kites as a "pretext" for airstrikes, resulting in three deaths according to Gaza's civil defense rescue service. The UN's spokeswoman emphasized that this threat is part of a series of increasingly hostile statements from Israeli authorities, which she described as advocating and inciting violence, amounting to atrocity crimes.