JERUSALEM, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman vowed on Monday to stop the burning kites that Gaza militants have sent to Israel over the past weeks.
Lieberman told a meeting of his ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party that some 600 kites with attached incendiary devices or burning rags were launched toward Israel.
About 400 were intercepted by the Israeli military and 200 fell inside Israeli territory, causing fires in agricultural areas and forests, he added.
"It should be clear that we are not prepared to accept the kite phenomenon," the Israeli minister noted.
Lieberman warned that Israel will exact a heavy price from Gaza militants if burning kites continue to be fired.
"We will act in accordance with Israeli interests at the right time and when we decide to. In any event, I am not in the custom of leaving scores unsettled and we will settle all scores with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad," he said.
His remarks came at a time of renewed violence along the Israel-Gaza security fence, where Israeli forces used gunfire to disperse Palestinian protesters who started the anti-Israel "Great March of Return" rally on March 30.
Last week, Gaza militants fired dozens of rockets and mortars at southern Israel, causing damage yet no casualties.
