Gazan Kite Carrying Firebomb Ignites Forest, Fields In Southern Israel
Smoke and flames rise from fields near the Kibbutz Be’eri after Palestinian Gazans flew a kite laden with a molotov cocktail over the border in April 2018. Image by Getty
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A fire burned for hours in a southern Israel forest after a kite carrying a firebomb crossed the border from Gaza.
Ten teams of firefighters were called to the Be’eri Forest near Kibbutz Be’eri on Wednesday afternoon to bring the fire sparked by the incendiary kite under control. The fire burned dozens of acres of forest and agricultural fields.
It was the largest fire triggered by the kites sent from Gaza since the first use of such devices by Gazan Palestinians. Israel has experienced hot and dry conditions and high winds over the last few days.
The explosives-laden kites were an escalation of the weekly protests at the Gaza-Israel border, called the March of Return, which are scheduled to end on May 14, the 70th anniversary according to the Gregorian calendar of the birth of the modern State of Israel, which the Arab world calls the Nakba, or catastrophe.
Officials in southern Israel have told Israeli media that the explosives-laden kites are now a daily occurrence.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
