Emek Refa’im Street in Jerusalem. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

Palestinian arson terrorism is hitting more and more targets, reaching key population centers. 

Police forces and sappers were alerted to a construction site in the Emek Refaim area, the heart of Jerusalem, on Wednesday after citizens reported discovering a balloon tied to incendiary materials.

Police sappers neutralized the threat and collected additional findings at the site.

Officials again issued a call to the Israeli public to exercise extreme caution with regards to suspicious objects such as kites and balloons, which may contain explosives or flammable materials that could endanger public safety.

This alarming incident occurred just days after a Molotov cocktail tied to a balloon was found in the backyard of a house in Givat Ze’ev, a Jerusalem suburb.

Givat Ze’ev is situated adjacent to several Arab neighborhoods.

It appears that the Palestinians are spearing their arson terrorism campaign to other parts in Israel, after terrorizing Israel’s south for the past half year.

An incendiary terror balloon was discovered in the Ligad Technology ‎Park in Modi’in in central Israel last week. ‎It was the first time that a Palestinian airborne ‎incendiary device had been detected this deep inside ‎Israeli territory.‎

A police source said that the incident was in line ‎with several similar cases indicating Palestinians ‎in Judea and Samaria may be trying to mimic the attacks from Gaza by launching incendiary ‎balloons into central Israeli cities.

Over the past six months, balloons and kites carrying firebombs or explosives have been regularly launched from the Gaza Strip into Israel, sparking countless fires and causing extensive damage.‎

The Palestinian arson ‎terrorism campaign has so far decimated nearly ‎‎10,000 acres of ‎‎‎forest ‎and farmland on the Israeli ‎side of the ‎‎‎border, causing ‎‎‎millions of dollars in ‎damage to the area.

Environmental experts ‎say it ‎‎‎‎will take at least 15 years to rehabilitate ‎the ‎‎‎‎vegetation and wildlife that have been destroyed.‎

JNS contributed to this report.