Gaza rioters try to firebomb Israel with kites

Gazans fail in new kind of attack during third week of violent demonstrations at the border with Israel.

By: Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Instead of their conventional way of propelling a flammable device toward Israeli soldiers, Palestinian terrorists on Friday attempted to hit the Jewish state by attaching Molotov cocktails to kites and flying them over the border fence during their third week of violent demonstrations.

The low-tech method failed to do much harm, however, as one kite caused just a small fire in a field adjacent to Kibbutz Kissufim, and another temporarily set fire to a field near Kibbutz Be’eri. They were both extinguished quickly and there were no casualties.

At least one other similarly-laden kite was spotted by the IDF, which published a picture of it flying over the heads of hundreds of protestors near the fence. That one failed to cross the border, falling inside the Strip and exploding.

The Eshkol regional council that administrates the area around much of the southern part of the border reassured its citizens following the attempted attacks, stating, “In all cases, the bottles fell near the border and caused fires” which firefighting teams and the IDF took care of, adding that the authorities “are on heightened alert all along the border and are ready to deal with any and all events.” They also asked the public to report any suspicious fires in the area to the council.

The Friday rioting attracted fewer demonstrators in comparison to the previous two weeks, but still some 10,000 Palestinians gathered at five locations near the border fence. The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit reported several attempts to sabotage or cut through the security infrastructure, with rocks and explosive devices hurled, large Israeli flags and posters of Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Liberman burned, and more tires set alight.

Israeli forces used tear gas and other conventional riot-dispersal methods to contain the rioters.