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Gaza Militants Target Israel with Party Balloons Bearing Bombs
(Washington Post) Steve Hendrix - Merav Hania's daughter stopped loving kindergarten when a cluster of colorful balloons floated toward her playground during recess. "Balloons!" said a pleased young Emma, her mother recalled. But another child, who had heard the warnings from local police, knew better: "That's a bomb!" In recent months, hundreds of booby-trapped balloons bearing improvised explosives have descended on Netivot and other communities downwind of nearby Gaza. At Emma's playground, teachers rushed the children inside as a police robot detonated the object attached to the balloons. Emma, who heard the blast, stayed home for two days. "Our children have learned to be scared of balloons," said her mother. The Israeli military has distributed a poem that warns children to be wary of balloons and any boxes, books or soccer balls they may drop. A note attached to one balloon cluster read: "Zionist, you have no place in the country of Palestine. We will send you to your death."