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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan | |
| Beyond kites: ‘Fire balloons’ increasingly used to set southern Israel ablaze | |
| 2018-06-05 | |
| [IsraelTimes] Total of at least 17,500 dunams ‐ nearly 7 square miles ‐ of land burned as Paleostinians repeatedly send airborne incendiary devices across border Since the first few weeks of Gazoo’s "March of Return," young Paleostinians have been flying so-called "incendiary kites" into Israeli territory, setting fire to vast swaths of grasslands, agricultural fields and nature reserves. More recently, however, a new arson tactic has been gaining popularity along the Gazoo border. Instead of kites, a different children’s toy is being flown into Israel: helium balloons. The concept is the same: Launch the airborne incendiary devices into the air and rely on the breeze from the coast to push them into Israeli territory, where they can start a fire. The balloon tactic has been in use for at least a month and a half, but it has picked up in recent weeks. In total, approximately 17,500 dunams (4,300 acres, or nearly seven square miles) of land have been burned in more than 250 fires over the past two months, more than half of it in nature reserves, according to initial assessments. Authorities have yet to determine how many of the fires were started by kites and how many by balloons. "Kite terror" has become a catch-all term for the phenomenon. As of Monday, there have been no injuries caused by the fires, but the cost of the damage is high and expected to increase, as there’s no sign that Paleostinians in Gazoo are giving up on the arson tactic. The blazes, specifically those in nature reserves, have also wreaked havoc on local wildlife, ecologists say. And there are more fires every day. The balloons themselves do not cause the fires ‐ helium is an inert gas ‐ but they carry flaming material attached to a long string. In some cases, just a few party balloons are used. In others, it is a larger cluster of latex balloons, capable of carrying far more substantial incendiary devices. As with the kites, the Israeli military has yet to come up with a response to this threat. A pilot program using drones to take down the incoming kites and balloons was deemed a failure, Israel’s Kan TV reported Saturday night. For now, Israel’s primary means of combating these airborne Molotov cocktails remains preparedness and a rapid response when blazes do break out. Authorities, as well as individual farmers, monitor the area and when an incoming kite or balloon is spotted, they rush to the scene in order to put out the fire before it spreads. Farmers use tractors to dig up the area around the fire in order to starve out the flames until firefighters can arrive to put out the blaze entirely. They are not always successful. Some 10,000 dunams (2,470 acres) of parks and nature reserves have been burned in recent weeks, according to a spokesperson for the Nature and Parks Authority, who stressed that the authority did not yet have definitive evidence that all of the fires were caused by kites or balloons. Over 5,000 dunams (1,235 acres) of farmland has been burned, most of it wheat fields, according to the Tax Authority, which is processing compensation requests from area farmers. Driving through the area, it is rare to see a field or patch of trees that does not have at least one blotch of scorched earth from one of the fires sparked by a kite or balloon. In addition, approximately 2,500 dunams (620 acres) of Jewish National Fund forests was burned, a spokesperson for the organization said, adding that the JNF would complete its final assessment of the damage on Tuesday. The Tax Authority said there have been no requests for compensation made by the JNF or the Nature and Parks Authority yet. The Tax Authority estimates that the damage to farmland alone will cost at least NIS 5 million ($1.4 million), to be paid from the government’s fund for damage caused by terrorist activity.
Kahlon: Gaza-area farmers to immediately get 50% of damages from ‘kite terror’ [IsraelTimes] Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon says his office will "immediately" give Gazoo-area farmers 50 percent of the estimated costs in damages to their fields caused by flaming kites flown toward Israel from the Gazoo Strip. "Already last month, when the phenomenon of flaming kites began I went to the Gazoo area and declared that the State of Israel recognizes the phenomenon as terror for all intents and purposes and the residents will be compensated up to the last shekel," he says at the faction meeting of his Kulanu party. Kahlon says 25 claims have been filed, which relate to damage to 5,000 dunams of wheat fields, orchards and irrigation systems. "In order to make it easier for the farmers to get through this difficult period, we decided today to grant advances of 50% of the estimated cost of damages and the rest will be dealt with as quickly as possible without delays," Kahlon says. | |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #8 The balloons themselves do not cause the fires ‐ helium is an inert gas ‐ Soon to be filled with Hydrogen. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2018-06-05 17:31 |
| #7 Napalm. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2018-06-05 13:06 |
| #6 Sounds like some Israeli FO's need to do counterbattery fire with Spot for Effect. A little willie-pete on the balloon groups will get the word around that if you play with fire, you get torched. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2018-06-05 12:33 |
| #5 As long as the tactic works and the cost is low, the Paleos will continue to do it. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2018-06-05 11:40 |
| #4 Food shipments then? |
| Posted by: gorb 2018-06-05 11:36 |
| #3 What Gaza farmland? |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2018-06-05 11:06 |
| #2 Intercept them and drop them over Gaza farmland? |
| Posted by: gorb 2018-06-05 10:39 |
| #1 Time to start lighting up some Paleo land, big time. |
| Posted by: Raj 2018-06-05 10:12 |