Israel’s military has enhanced capabilities in monitoring the Gaza Strip.There have been occasional stories about these balloons before - apparently they are tethered and don't directly enter Gaza airspace.
The military’s Southern Command has improved training and equipment in maintaining surveillance on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. The command has used its Nesher Battalion to collect combat intelligence from the 360-square kilometer strip.
“The Combat Intelligence Corps has significantly upgraded its detection systems in the past few years,” the military said.
On July 2, the military reported that Nesher integrated advanced intelligence collection assets that target the Gaza Strip. The assets were said to have included radar, remotely-operated weapons and balloons that reach an altitude 300 meters.
“These balloons have two missions,” deputy battalion commander Maj. Shai Barda said. “One is to assist the soldiers on the ground in monitoring every visible inch of the borders, and the second is to gather long-distance field intelligence that is requested from us.”
The enhancements were reported amid Hamas’ effort to rebuild its military. Officials said Hamas was focusing on the production of long-range rockets that could strike such Israeli cities as Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
In March 2013, Southern Command granted Nesher sole responsibility for identifying threats from the Gaza Strip. One of the battalion’s six companies was assigned the operation of the surveillance balloons.
“We see some kind of activity along the border every day,” Barda said.
“If there is an area that is not visible from the ground, these advanced surveillance balloons can go as high as 300 meters and cover any ground that may be difficult to observe from down below. Ninety-nine percent of the year, the balloons spend up in the air.”
Still, I wonder what protection they have from being simply shot down.