After an Explosive Drone Incident, Kibbutz Sasa Installs Protective Netting Over Preschool Yards

Members of Kibbutz Sasa, in the Upper Galilee Regional Council, began today (Monday) a rapid project to spread protective nets above the kibbutz’s kindergarten yards, day care centers, and playgrounds. That is according to a report on the Walla website. The initiative is meant to protect children from explosive drones launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon.

The decision to spread the nets came after a serious incident over the weekend: an explosive Hezbollah drone crossed in from Lebanon, landed in the orchard near the kibbutz, and exploded only about 50 meters from workers who were pruning trees. At the same time, many children and parents were in public areas and around the kibbutz grounds. The powerful blast happened without any siren or prior warning.

"We’re protecting the yards now so the children can still play outside a little," Yehuda Livneh, a member of the community’s emergency team, told Walla. "The children will be under a roof part of the time and under these nets part of the time. We’re trying to create physical protection for them from a threat that simply appears out of the sky without any warning," he said. Later in his remarks, Livneh described the helplessness felt by kibbutz residents in the face of the drone threat: "It’s a small, quiet ‘toy’ that you don’t see and don’t hear, and until it explodes you don’t know it’s there."

Kibbutz Sasa is operating under a framework of strict guidelines issued by the Home Front Command for communities along the northern border that are defined as a "yellow zone." Under the guidelines, time outdoors in kindergartens and day care centers is limited to groups of up to six children at a time. In schools, the cap is higher, at up to 35 students. Every small group that goes out into the yard must be closely accompanied by two educational staff members, and the maximum time allowed in an open area for recess or a break is limited to just 20 minutes.

In addition, routine activity is permitted only inside a building or a standard protected space. Gatherings are limited to up to 200 people in open areas and up to 600 people inside a closed building. These guidelines, intended to reduce risks because of the short warning times, dictate a rigid daily routine in the community.