Palestinians fly balloons loaded with flammable material to be thrown at the Israeli side, near the Israel-Gaza border in the central Gaza Strip. Photo: Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa.

JNS.org – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released an English-language video on social media on Tuesday addressed to “every parent, to every mother and to every father,” in which he described how the lives of Israeli children in the south are at risk as a result of incendiary devices launched by terrorists from Gaza.

He explained how just the other day, a firebomb balloon landed in the yard of an Israeli preschool.

“They turned a child’s toy into a weapon of terror,” said Netanyahu, “and these beautiful children were nearly burned alive. Thankfully, their precious lives were spared.”

Netanyahu then asked: “What does it say about the terrorists that run Gaza that they try to burn Israeli preschoolers alive?”

The prime minister then called on parents around the world to hug their children “especially tight” when they drop them off at school, and “tell them you love them, tell them you’ll always protect them. Then call up another mother or father and tell them this story. This is what Israeli defends itself against, every single day.”

Hamas has carried out more than 1,000 firebomb kite and balloon attacks against Israel over the past several months, torching thousands of dunams of Israeli fields, forests and nature preserves.

The attacks started in full force on March 30 with the beginning of the “March of Return” mass protests along the Israel-Gaza border.