Gazan kites spark fires in south, Jewish National Fund to sue Hamas
KKL-JNF will sue Hamas for environmental damages.
By TAMARA ZIEVEUpdated: JUNE 5, 2018 21:44Fire in Sapir College from Gaza terror kites, June 5, 2018 (Tal Lev Ram)
Incendiary kites launched from Gaza continued to ravage land in southern Israel on Tuesday, sparking fires in as many as 10 different locations.Among those locations was a field opposite the Sapir College in the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council. The students carried on with their studies as usual at the college and firefighters extinguished the flames.Various sites and communities in the Eshkol Regional Council and the Sha’ar Hanegev regional council were hit by the kites, including Kissufim, Nirim, Miflasim, Ein Hashlosha and Nir Am.KKL-JNF staff and national firefighters managed to gain control over the fires.KKL-JNF said Tuesday that it intends to sue Hamas in international legal court for the severe environmental damages that were caused to KKL-JNF land in the area surrounding the Gaza border from rockets, mortar shells and incendiary kites launched from the enclave into Israel.KKL-JNF World Chairman, Daniel Atar, who toured the affect southern areas with KKL-JNF Management, said, “It is inconceivable that the international community would allow Hamas not to be held accountable and pay for its criminal acts; not only against the citizens of the state of Israel, but also against nature and the environment which have been severely hurt by this criminal environmental terrorism. Hamas has proved that they have no humanity; not just toward human beings, but also toward animals and natural resources.”Since the start of the fire kite phenomenon, 265 fires have been recorded, in which approximately 697 acres of KKL-JNF forests have burned.“We are going on a planting campaign with the children from the towns surrounding Gaza: Hamas burns forests – we plant them," Atar said. "We will prove that our lives here are founded on strength and growth.”Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan toured the Kissufim area and said: "our brave firefighters can extinguish the fires, but only the IDF can eliminate those who lit them. I expect the IDF to carry out targeted assassinations of terrorist kite launchers that endanger people's lives on a daily basis. They need to know that they will pay for it."Meanwhile World Jewish Congress (WJC) CEO Robert Singer called on European leaders to take action against Hamas, to condemn its activities and to recognize it as a terror organization in every sense of the term. "We need to stop Hamas once and for all," he said, addressing MK and Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Avi Dichter who was participating in a WJC conference in Prague.