Recently Hamas began launching small balloons, helium balloons and kites each carrying an incendiary device against Israel. In this way they caused many fires inside the Israeli territory. However, the idea is not new. It was used at least twice in the past by Austrians and Japanese.
Venice was an independent state until 1797 when it was conquered by Napoleon. After the Napoleonic wars it was given to Austria. In 1848, when the Italian Kingdom of Piedmont declared war on Austria, Venice rebelled against the Austrians. Its citizens proclaimed the Republic of Saint Mark, which lasted until August 28, 1849.
The Austrians after their victory over the Italian troops besieged Venice. It was then, on July 12, 1849, that they carried out the first aerial bombardment in history, using small balloons, each of which carried a bomb weighing 15 kilograms.
These "explosive" balloons were the invention of Austrian artillery general and inventor Franz von Uchtius. His balloons were made of paper. The balloons would be released when the right wind blew, fitted with a 30-minute timer to release the bomb they were carrying when they were over the city.
They were eventually freed by an Austrian naval warship, but the wind suddenly picked up, sweeping them, most of them at least, beyond the city. So the bombing failed. However, Uhatius was not discouraged and tried again, on August 22. Again success was not great, but this time at least, some of the 200 fired hit the city, causing some damage.
However, this plan was also based on the Japanese, who at the end of World War II launched 9,000 explosive balloons against the USA, but without success.