Schoolchildren participating in summer camps run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) broke the world record Thursday for simultaneous kite flying, a UN official said.

Around 8,000 boys and girls, ages 10-14, gathered at a beach in the northern Gaza Strip and flew 4,000 kites.

Open gallery view Palestinian children attending a kite festival organized by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) on July 28, 2011. Credit: AFP

The kites were built by the children and carried the four major colors of the Palestinian flag.

Slogans were written on the kites calling on Israel to end more than four years of blockade imposed on the territory. The slogans on the kites called for a lasting peace with Israel and letting the children live in peace and security.

Chris Guness, UNRWA spokesman in Gaza, told reporters that the kites were hand-made "by Gaza kids, and were not imported from China."

Hours before the event took place, unknown individuals broke into the UNRWA facility, burned a UN flag, torched part of the stage and damaged a large billboard.

Last summer, unknown individuals set fire to summer camps after militant Islamist groups in Gaza accused UNRWA of ruining the morals of Palestinian children through summer camps.

The record-setting kite-flying event marked the end of the five-week UNRWA summer camp program.