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The United Nations on Tuesday slammed Israel\u2019s threat to expel people from areas where kites, drones and balloons are launched from in Gaza, lamenting \u201cunacceptable rhetoric\u201d coming from Israeli leaders.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cOn the threat of expulsion due to children\u2019s kite flying, I hope we can all agree that this is outrageous,\u201d UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.<\/p>\n Israel warned Hamas on Sunday that it would step up operations in Gaza if launches of kites, drones and balloons towards Israel continued, after a recent increase in such incidents. Hamas has denied responsibility.<\/p>\n Israeli media reported that four kites were found in communities near the Gaza border on Saturday and one was shot down by the army on Sunday, bringing the total number recovered in recent days to around 10.<\/p>\n The incidents have revived memories of waves of incendiary kites and balloons launched from Gaza in previous years, which sparked fires in agricultural lands in southern Israel.<\/p>\n According to the reports, the Israeli military believes Hamas was behind the launches, which did not carry explosives, and may have been testing how Israel would respond.<\/p>\n \u201cIsrael warns Hamas that if the launches toward Israel do not cease immediately, the IDF will take action to intensify targeted operations against those responsible\u2026 and will evacuate the population from areas from which kites, drones and balloons are launched,\u201d Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said Sunday in a joint statement.<\/p>\n Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas\u2019s political bureau, said in a statement that the kites were \u201claunched from Gaza by children searching for their innocent childhood amid the rubble\u201d.<\/p>\n In a separate statement, the Islamist group accused Israel of using the kites as a \u201cpretext\u201d for airstrikes in central Gaza on Sunday, in which three people were killed according to Gaza\u2019s civil defence rescue service.<\/p>\n The UN spokeswoman highlighted that Sunday\u2019s statement was only the latest in a string of threats.<\/p>\n \u201cWe continue to see unacceptable rhetoric coming from the highest level of the Israeli authorities, showing utter contempt for international human rights and humanitarian law, and advocating and inciting violence amounting to atrocity crimes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n