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

He explains 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,” says Netanyahu, “and these beautiful children were nearly burned alive. Thankfully, their precious lives were spared.”

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

The prime minister then calls 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 Israel defends itself against every single day.”