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The U.S.-led board supervising a Gaza peace plan warned Hamas on Tuesday against flying kites after Israel threatened retaliatory strikes.
“All militant activity in Gaza must stop, including the flying of kites. We have conveyed this message directly through the established mechanism,” an official on President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace said on condition of anonymity.
“Israel, too, must comply with the ceasefire. Military action cannot extend beyond responding to genuine and imminent threats,” the official said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday warned Hamas that Israel would step up operations in Gaza if it launched kites, drones or balloons.
Hamas political bureau member Basem Naim voiced outrage at the warning conveyed through the Board of Peace.
“What audacity! Is it conceivable that attempts to appease the war criminal Netanyahu have led them to describe innocent children’s activities as armed activities, while Netanyahu continues to kill and destroy daily despite the agreement?” Naim said.
Earlier on Tuesday, the United Nations described Israeli threats over the kites as unacceptable.
“On the threat of expulsion due to children’s kite flying, I hope we can all agree that this is outrageous,” U.N. rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
The Board of Peace was established by Trump to oversee the ceasefire declared in October in Gaza.
Since then, Israel has expanded slightly further into Gaza and continued its strikes, which have killed 1,288 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, whose figures are considered reliable by the U.N.
On Monday, Gaza authorities said Israeli fire killed at least five people, including two children.
Earlier this month,Netanyahu, who is facing tight elections in October, rejected the latest stage in the Gaza peace plan after Hamas said it had agreed to disarm.
Netanyahu voiced skepticism over the pledge and told Trump’s envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner last week that a U.S. general should be placed in charge of verifying the destruction of all Hamas weapons.
In response to Netanyahu, the Board of Peace backtracked and assured him that Israeli troops did not need to leave Gaza until Hamas was fully demilitarized.
The board had earlier called for Israel to begin a phased withdrawal.
Separately, a visiting U.S. delegation sharply rebuked a senior Israeli security official over settler violence in the occupied West Bank, Israel’s Channel 12 reported Tuesday.
The delegation included members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, advisers to senior U.S. officials and professional teams, according to the broadcaster.
During a meeting focused on settler violence, the delegation told the unnamed Israeli security official: “We are defending you in every way and under difficult conditions, when the entire world is against you.”
“Your response cannot be acts of violence, looting, and attempts to harm the Palestinians,” the delegation said.
The U.S. delegation also warned Israel not to take American support for granted while allowing such acts to continue.
“Do not take American support for granted when you allow these actions to continue. It will come back to you through the back door. How can you not understand this yourself?” it said.
Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu held a security meeting Monday with Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and other officials to discuss settler violence in the occupied West Bank at the request of the United States.
The broadcaster did not identify the Israeli official who was rebuked.
There was no immediate Israeli comment on the report.
The occupied West Bank has seen a sharp rise in settler attacks and Israeli military operations since Israel launched its genocide in Gaza in October 2023, alongside expanding illegal settlement activity and restrictions on Palestinian movement.
According to figures released by the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, settlers have killed 25 Palestinians since the start of 2026, 61 since October 2023 and 87 since 2019.
Most were killed in the governorates of Ramallah and al-Bireh, and Nablus, according to the commission.
During the first half of 2026, settlers carried out 3,488 attacks across the occupied West Bank, killing 17 Palestinians, the commission said.
The attacks also fully or partially displaced 26 Bedouin and pastoral communities, while settlers established 42 new illegal settlement outposts, most of them pastoral outposts, according to the commission.
According to Palestinian and Israeli official figures, about 750,000 settlers live in 156 illegal settlements and 360 outposts across the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.
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