The terror attacks that have been continuously plaguing the towns and cities in the Gaza periphery for the past two months continued this past Shabbos as firefighters rushed to put out more than 20 fires that were lit by terrorist firebombs attached to kite and balloons sent over the border from the Gaza strip into Israel. The Israel Air Force attacked the area in which the firebombs were being launched into Israel and injured two terrorists who were making bombs at the time. The current heatwave in Israel made putting out the blazes even harder for the firefighters. In one instance, the blaze almost engulfed an IDF military base.

In addition to numerous fields and forested areas that were burned, an entire bee colony was destroyed and the bees killed due to the blaze. Lizards and other crawling wildlife were also decimated in the area as the agricultural reign of terror continued.

Head of the Eshkol Regional Council Gadi Yarkni said: “Another long hard day fighting to contain and extinguish the fires in open areas and under intense heat has passed. Our firefighters battle to prevent these fires from growing and engulfing towns and homes. Our people prevailed in the battle this time as they have many times before. This is an example of the cooperation of all of the security personnel in the Eshkol region working together with all operational bodies in the area. We have witnessed that this matter is not being ignored by the security establishment and we hope that the threat will soon be nullified.

The IDF has begun implementing the use of drones to shoot down firebombs carried by balloons and kites. The IAF has also begun firing warning shots at areas where terrorists are seen to be launching the balloons from. Sources within the IDF say that should the warning shots not be heeded, and the terror continues for the upcoming days, pilots may be instructed to take direct aim at terrorists launching the balloons.