Smoke rises from Israeli agricultural fields near the border with the Gaza Strip after being set on fire by an incendiary kite flown by Palestinians, May 14, 2018. Photo: Flash90.

The IDF’s Gaza Division has adopted a new strategy to fight the incendiary kites and balloons from the Gaza Strip that have destroyed thousands of acres of land in southern Israel and caused millions of shekels in damage.

In response to the Palestinians’ new terror tactic, the Gaza Division has established a “war room” that collates all available information about the incendiary attacks and enables a quick response to prevent the fires from spreading.

According to the Hebrew news site Walla, the war room receives information on incendiary kites or balloons heading toward Israel through lookouts and advanced radar technology. It then pinpoints the devices’ location and dispatches countermeasures and emergency services. The goal is to prevent fires or to extinguish them as quickly as possible, before they have a chance to do serious damage.

Also involved in the war room’s activities are a network of volunteers who accompany soldiers on the border, as well as civilian and Home Front Command firefighters who specialize in rapid response. The war room also chooses which crews to send according to how quickly they can respond to any potential fires.

Over the past few months, hundreds of “terror kites” have been sent into Israel by Palestinians as part of ongoing unrest on the Gaza border. While Israel has attempted to use drones to intercept the kites and balloons, efforts to do so have been only partially successful. Thus far, there have been no casualties from the kite attacks, but there has been significant agricultural and economic damage.