by Aryeh Savir
An improvised drone connected to a bunch of balloons flying from Gaza landed in an open field in the Negev on Sunday, near the Israeli border with Gaza.
The balloons were connected to an explosive device and had Arabic writing on them.
A police sapper was alerted to the scene, and the device exploded while he was dismantling it. No one was injured in the incident.
This is the third incident in which an improvised explosive device sent from Gaza landed in Israeli territory in the last week, after several weeks of relative quiet.
Tamir Idan, head of the Sdot Negev Regional Council, said the incident was a “severe escalation” and demanded that the IDF respond to the attack.
The Hamas balloon squads terrorized Israel’s southern communities during the summer when it sent thousands of balloons carrying flammable materials and explosive devices that caused extensive damage to the area, but claimed no lives.