Hamas reportedly agrees to cease launching booby-trapped balloons

Netanyahu warned Hamas, in a Channel 20 interview, that he was preparing for them “the surprise of their lives” if they did not stop the balloon launches.

By World Israel News Staff 

The Hamas terror organization, which rules the Gaza Strip, and other Palestinian factions in the coastal enclave have reportedly agreed to stop launching booby-trapped balloons into southern Israel, as part of a deal to bring cross-border calm.

The report was aired on Israel’s Channel 12 TV, citing Al-Quds, a Palestinian daily based in Jerusalem, as a source.

It was earlier reported by the Lebanese Al-Akhbar daily that Hamas had told an Egyptian security delegation mediating between the terror group and Israel that it “does not seek to escalate,” but that “the economic pressure experienced by Gazans and the failure to implement understandings for a state of calm will lead to more tension in the border area.”

Therefore, the terror organization reportedly said, any deal for stopping attacks on Israel would have to include the transfer of humanitarian assistance across the border with Israel.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu warned Hamas, in a Channel 20 interview, that he was preparing for them “the surprise of their lives…different from anything that came before.” if they did not stop the balloon launches. This, the prime minister vowed, would be in addition to the Israeli responses to rocket attacks from Gaza.

On Tuesday, “78 explosives-laden balloons crossed the Gaza-Israel border,” according to Adele Raemer, a resident of an Israeli community located near the border, in a post on her “Life on the Border” page on Facebook, citing the Hamal Darom Whatsapp group and Ynet as her sources of information and photos.

Israel says that it holds Hamas responsible for all attacks coming from Gaza even when carried out by other terror groups. Hamas overthrew the Palestinian Authority in the Strip and has ruled there since 2007.

The Egyptian delegation, during its visit to Gaza, relayed a warning from Israel that if calm is not restored in the Israeli-Gazan border area, the Jewish State would “deal a major blow to Hamas with international and American support,” Al-Akhbar reported.