JERUSALEM (JTA) — Two Palestinian men crossed into Israel from Gaza armed with a grenade and a knife.

The men were arrested by Israeli soldiers on Tuesday morning shortly after they crossed the security fence at the border between Israel and the southern Gaza Strip, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

They were turned over for questioning to the Israeli Security Agency, or Shin Bet.

The infiltration comes a day after four Palestinian men entered Israel through the security fence near Kibbutz Kissufim in southern Israel.

Also on Monday, Gazan Palestinians sent four kites carrying firebombs over the border fence. The kites touched down in a wheat field in southern Israel, setting fire to the crop. Some 25 acres of wheat were burned in the attack.

The explosives-laden kites are 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.

On Friday, the kite that was flown over the border carrying a firebomb was decorated with a green swastika. Several fires have been set by such explosive-carrying kites in recent days.

A masked man from central Gaza who said he was among those preparing the kites told the Al-Jazeera news channel that: “These are our lands, and we have the right to return to them. We say to them, we will not let them sow our lands and enjoy them. </s> Two Palestinians were killed and another wounded after IDF troops opened fire while they were trying to sabotage the border fence and cross into Israel from the southern Gaza Strip, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said Sunday.



According to a statement by the IDF the four men who “arrived at the perimeter fence to infiltrate into Israeli territory and attempt to carry out hostile terror activity” were under surveillance by troops who opened fire on them when they acted suspiciously next to the fence.





One of the terrorists was found to have a camera, an ax, a jacket, oxygen mask and gloves. Two bottles of gasoline was found next to another Palestinian who was killed by troops.Palestinian Health Ministry identified the fatalities as 23 year-old Baha Abdul Rahman Qdeih and 20 year old Mohammad Khaled Abu Rideh. A third was said to have been evacuated to hospital in serious condition.Overnight Sunday the IDF struck a Hamas outpost in the northern Gaza Strip near the border fence that the military said was used as a location from which terrorists launched incendiary kites and other objects in an attempt to burn Israeli territory."We will continue to act against terror attacks above and below ground," the IDF said in a statement. "The Hamas terror organization is solely responsible for any terrorist activity emanating from the Gaza Strip."The military also stressed there was no connection between the strike and an earlier explosion in the central Gaza Strip city of Deir al-Balah Saturday evening that killed six Hamas members.On Friday, riots broke out at five locations along the Gaza-Israel security fence for the sixth consecutive week of demonstrations called “The March of Great Return” by Palestinian organizers. According to the IDF, protesters burned tires, threw stones and flew kites with flammable material with the aim of starting fires in Israeli territory.Prior to the demonstrations, the army’s Arabic Spokesperson warned Gazans against using the incendiary kites, posting on Twitter that the IDF is taking the issue seriously.“The arson phenomenon is not hidden from our eyes, and we are taking it very seriously. Attack kites are not a kids' game, and we don’t see it that way,” Maj. Avichai Adraee posted, warning Gazans that "Hamas is using you, and is pushing you toward the cycle of terrorism."The heads of security for the Israeli communities along the border of the Gaza Strip warned residents not to touch any kites that have landed in Israeli territory, stating that the kites could be booby-trapped.The IDF accuses Hamas of using the protests as cover to carry out attacks against IDF troops.Gazans have ramped up their use of these kite bombs in recent weeks as a way to breach the border and cause damage within Israeli territory.Israeli farmers in Gaza border communities have asked the Tax Authority for compensation after an approximate 800 dunams (200 acres) of fields were destroyed in fires sparked by these kites."When the courts in Jerusalem are discussing petitions from left-wing organizations to tie the hands of the soldiers standing in front of the Gaza rioters who want to break through the fence, the arson continues in the fields of farmers," said Shai Hajaj, head of the Merhavim Regional council.Hajaj continued: "It is necessary to remind both the judges and advocates for Palestinian rights that stone-throwing and the burning of fields is violence, which has already caused severe economic damage and threatens human life. Palestinian rioters burning fields with kites is no longer limited to the Friday 'right-of-return' demonstrations, but rather an everyday event. We demand that the IDF put a stop to this violence immediately."Member of Knesset Haim Jelin, from the political party Yesh Atid, weighed in on the situation after the attack on Wednesday: "It is forbidden to downplay the most recent kite terrorist attacks from the Gaza Strip, which have ignited fields in three separate attacks. The person who downplays this now will find himself with more threats in Israeli territory."While the army does not have any response to these rudimentary kites, during the clashes on Friday an IDF drone was reported to have downed a kite by cutting its strings.Jonathan Weber Rosen contributed to this report. </s> IDF troops shot and killed three Palestinians trying to sabotage the border fence and infiltrate Israel from the southern Gaza Strip, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said on Sunday.



According to a statement by the IDF, four men “arrived at the perimeter fence to infiltrate into Israeli territory and attempt to carry out hostile terror activity.” The men were under surveillance by troops who opened fire on them when they acted suspiciously next to the fence.

One of the terrorists was found to have a camera, an ax, a jacket, an oxygen mask and gloves. Two bottles of gasoline were found next to the other killed Palestinian.Palestinian Health Ministry identified the fatalities as 23-year-old Baha Abdul Rahman Qdeih and 20-year-old Muhammad Khaled Abu Rideh. The third died of serious injuries after being evacuated to hospital. He wasn’t identified.Early Sunday morning, the IDF struck a Hamas outpost in the northern Gaza Strip near the border fence that the military said was used as a location from which terrorists launched incendiary kites and other objects in an attempt to burn Israeli fields.“We will continue to act against terror attacks above and below ground,” the IDF said in a statement. “The Hamas terror organization is solely responsible for any terrorist activity coming from the Gaza Strip.”The military also stressed there was no connection between the strike and an earlier explosion in the central Gaza Strip city of Deir al-Balah Saturday evening that killed six Hamas members.On Friday, riots broke out at five locations along the Gaza-Israel security fence for the sixth consecutive week of demonstrations called “The March of Great Return” by Palestinian organizers. According to the IDF, protesters burned tires, threw stones and flew kites with flammable material with the aim of starting fires in Israeli territory.Prior to the demonstrations, the army’s Arabic Spokesperson warned Gazans against using the incendiary kites, posting on Twitter that the IDF is taking the issue seriously.“The arson phenomenon is not hidden from our eyes, and we are taking it very seriously. Attack kites are not a kids' game, and we don’t see it that way,” Maj. Avichai Adraee posted, warning Gazans that "Hamas is using you, and is pushing you toward the cycle of terrorism."The heads of security for the Israeli communities along the border of the Gaza Strip warned residents not to touch any kites that have landed in Israeli territory, stating that the kites could be booby-trapped.The IDF accuses Hamas of using the protests as cover to carry out attacks against IDF troops.Gazans have ramped up their use of these kite bombs in recent weeks as a way to breach the border and cause damage within Israeli territory.Israeli farmers in Gaza border communities have asked the Tax Authority for compensation after an approximate 800 dunams (200 acres) of fields were destroyed in fires sparked by these kites."When the courts in Jerusalem are discussing petitions from left-wing organizations to tie the hands of the soldiers standing in front of the Gaza rioters who want to break through the fence, the arson continues in the fields of farmers," said Shai Hajaj, head of the Merhavim Regional council.Hajaj continued: "It is necessary to remind both the judges and advocates for Palestinian rights that stone-throwing and the burning of fields is violence, which has already caused severe economic damage and threatens human life. Palestinian rioters burning fields with kites is no longer limited to the Friday 'right-of-return' demonstrations, but rather an everyday event. We demand that the IDF put a stop to this violence immediately."Member of Knesset Haim Jelin, from the political party Yesh Atid, weighed in on the situation after the attack on Wednesday: "It is forbidden to downplay the most recent kite terrorist attacks from the Gaza Strip, which have ignited fields in three separate attacks. The person who downplays this now will find himself with more threats in Israeli territory."While the army does not have any response to these rudimentary kites, during the clashes on Friday an IDF drone was reported to have downed a kite by cutting its strings.Jonathan Weber Rosen contributed to this report.

var cont = `Join Jerusalem Post Premium Plus now for just $5 and upgrade your experience with an ads-free website and exclusive content. Click here>>



`; document.getElementById("linkPremium").innerHTML = cont; (function (v, i){ }); </s> Palestinians at the Gaza border flew a kite marked with a swastika and carrying a petrol bomb into Israel on Friday.

The Israeli army posted photographs of the kite in the air and on the ground inside Israel.

An IDF spokesman, Jonathan Conricus, wrote: “Moments ago, terrorist Hamas sent a Molotov cocktail over the Gaza border into Israel. They flew it with their true colors.”

Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up

April 20 was Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s birthday.

Friday marked the fourth weekend in succession that thousands of Palestinians have demonstrated at the border, in mass protests encouraged by the Gaza Strip’s Hamas rulers. Originally declared as non-violent “March of Return” protests, the demonstrations are being encouraged by Hamas, which seeks to destroy Israel, and whose leaders say the goal of the protests is to erase the border and liberate Palestine.

Moments ago, terrorist #Hamas sent a Molotov cocktail over the Gaza border into Israel.

They flew it with their true colors. pic.twitter.com/LOexWD76lf — Jonathan Conricus (@LTCJonathan) April 20, 2018

The Israeli army says it has faced “terror” at the fence during the weekly protests, including a shooting incident, numerous efforts to breach the fence, stone- and bomb-throwing. In recent days, Gazans have flown kites carrying petrol bombs across the border, and these have caused fires several times in Israeli fields close to the border.

On Tuesday, one such kite started a fire in a grassy grove outside Kibbutz Be’eri, an Israeli community located some seven kilometers (4.3 miles) east of Gaza’s Bureij refugee camp. It took four teams of firefighters to bring the blaze under control, a spokesman for the local fire department said. The Kan news broadcaster reported that the fire had spread over almost 100 dunams (25 acres).

Gazans filmed the kite crossing the border and starting the blaze, in a video shared on social media.

תיעוד השלכת העפיפון היום מאל בוריג' שברצועת עזה לעבר בארי והשריפה שנוצרה במקום בעקבות הבקבוק תבערה Posted by ‎החדשות החמות‎ on Tuesday, 17 April 2018

The kites seem to be the latest phase in the ongoing clashes on the Gaza border, as Palestinians have rioted and protested along the security fence almost daily since March 30.

Fridays have been by far the most active days, with over 40,000 people taking part in the first protest, nearly 30,000 taking part in the second and approximately 10,000 participating in the third and most recent, according to the IDF’s figures. As of late afternoon, Friday’s fourth protests involved some 3,000 people.

These violent demonstrations have often included the burning of tires and Israeli flags.

Palestinian flags combined with swastika flags have also been sight.

As this month also marks the beginning of Israel’s dry season, an IDF spokesperson on Friday said the military was prepared for the possibility that fires might break out and had therefore coordinated with local fire departments and put firefighting planes on standby.

However, when asked earlier this week specifically about the low-tech threat posed by kites carrying incendiary devices, the army offered scant details about its ability to combat the threat. “The IDF is prepared and ready for various scenarios during the riots organized along the Gaza fence,” the army said in a statement.

On Monday, the local Eshkol regional council issued a stark warning to residents, telling them to be on alert for these airborne arson attacks.

“In the last 24 hours, there have been several cases of kites flying with Molotov cocktails from the Strip to our territory,” the council said in a statement. “The public is asked to be alert and to report on any unusual incident of fires in the area.”

Last month, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) organized a “Kites of Hope” festival for over 1,000 Gazan schoolchildren from Khan Younis.

The National Forum for the March of Return, one of several Palestinian groups behind the weekly demonstrations, moved its protest tents closer to the border ahead of Friday’s protests, in order, it said, to “affirm our right to return” — a reference to the Palestinian demand that Israel allow tens of thousands of refugees and their millions of descendants to return to their former homes inside Israel. Such a demand would mean the end of Israel as a majority Jewish state.

The protests in Gaza are expected to continue until mid-May, around the time the US is set to inaugurate its new embassy in Jerusalem.

Mid-May will also mark the anniversary of what Palestinians call the Nakba, or catastrophe, which saw hundreds of thousands of Palestinians flee their homes during Israel’s 1948 War of Independence.

According to the United Nations, some 1.3 million of Gaza’s 1.9 million residents are refugees or their descendants.

At previous peace talks, the Palestinians have always demanded, along with sovereignty in the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem and the Old City, a “right of return” to Israel for Palestinian refugees who left or were forced out of Israel when it was established. The Palestinians demand this right not only for those of the hundreds of thousands of refugees who are still alive — a figure estimated in the low tens of thousands — but also for their descendants, who number in the millions.

No Israeli government would ever be likely to accept this demand, since it would spell the end of Israel as a Jewish-majority state. Israel’s position is that Palestinian refugees and their descendants would become citizens of a Palestinian state at the culmination of the peace process, just as Jews who fled or were forced out of Middle Eastern countries by hostile governments became citizens of Israel. </s> The IDF spokesperson stated that the violence on the border has continued throughout the past hour. An explosive device was placed and detonated near Karni, and may have caused Palestinian casualties. A kite bomb with a Molotov cocktail attached was attempted to be sent into Israeli territory, but ended up landing within Gaza. 



This is in addition to several attempts by the over 10,000 protesters throughout the last hour to breach the border between Israel and Gaza and sabotage security infrastructure.



The IDF continues to use riot dispersal methods as means to control the uprisings. </s> The IDF spokesperson stated that the violence on the border has continued throughout the past hour. An explosive device was placed and detonated near Karni, and may have caused Palestinian casualties. A kite bomb with a Molotov cocktail attached was attempted to be sent into Israeli territory, but ended up landing within Gaza.



This is in addition to several attempts by the over 10,000 protesters throughout the last hour to breach the border between Israel and Gaza and sabotage security infrastructure.The IDF continues to use riot dispersal methods as means to control the uprisings.



var cont = `Join Jerusalem Post Premium Plus now for just $5 and upgrade your experience with an ads-free website and exclusive content. Click here>>



`; document.getElementById("linkPremium").innerHTML = cont; (function (v, i){ }); </s> Two Palestinians were killed and over a hundred were injured by IDF troops in clashes along the Gaza border on Tuesday.



Palestinian news agency Wafa identified one fatality as Ahmad Gharab, 51, from the Nuseirat refugee camp, saying he was shot by IDF fire. Dozens of others sustained injuries from live bullets or suffered tear gas inhalation, according to the report.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said, following a joint investigation conducted by the army and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), that at least 24 of the Palestinians killed during Monday’s riots were terrorists, mostly belonging to Hamas and some to Islamic Jihad. Hamas claims a total of 62 Gazans were killed that day.Early on Tuesday, rocket sirens heard in the Eshkol region bordering the Gaza Strip sent residents into bomb shelters before being declared a false alarm by the IDF.According to the army, there were almost no Gazans visible along the fence until around 2 p.m., when buses arrived with protesters who gathered in several spots, setting tires on fire and launching incendiary kites toward Israel. In the late afternoon, IDF troops arrested several males who attempted to infiltrate Israel. The suspects were arrested near the security fence and taken for questioning.By 8 p.m., the army reported a total of some 4,000 Palestinians violently demonstrating in five locations along the border, throwing Molotov cocktails at troops and burning tires.There have been more soldiers than usual stationed on the border for two months, but they were recently reinforced by additional IDF battalions, police and border police to thwart the mass infiltration of Palestinians that Hamas had planned.Gazans have been protesting along the border for six weeks, as part of what organizers call the “Great March of Return.” But the mass protests on Monday were said by the army to be unprecedented in their level of violence, with demonstrators using grenades, incendiary kites, drones, live fire toward IDF troops and improvised explosive devices. The number of women seen taking part in the protests with their children also surprised the army.On Tuesday, the IDF released details on an attack it thwarted during the riots along the northern part of border.One attack from the northern Strip occurred after an intelligence alert was received that a Hamas squad was planning to place an explosive charge on the fence to allow for a mass infiltration of Israel.Commandos from the IDF’s Maglan unit, which specializes in operating behind enemy lines using advanced technologies and weaponry, stationed themselves opposite the expected attack point.When the squad of eight terrorists emerged from amid the violent demonstration that was taking place, two IDF armored vehicles drove over the fence and were attacked by the cell with explosives and light arms.The cell fired at troops from two locations, one a hill some 200 meters from the security fence, and another point some 30 meters from the border.Troops then engaged the cell, opening fire at them from Israeli territory while a tank and IAF aircraft struck the terrorists’ position. All eight terrorists were killed in the exchange of gunfire.“Yesterday, during a violent riot, which included the burning of tires, throwing of pipe bombs and throwing of stones, we saw shots fired at our forces and realized that Hamas operatives were the ones who carried out the shooting. Due to this, the crowd dispersed and I gave an order to fire. The fighters were operating professionally, with great courage and precision, and prevented a significant shooting attack on our forces,” a commander in the unit said.A pistol, grenade launchers, explosive charges and preparations for opening the fence were found where the firefight took place, the army said.

var cont = `Join Jerusalem Post Premium Plus now for just $5 and upgrade your experience with an ads-free website and exclusive content. Click here>>



`; document.getElementById("linkPremium").innerHTML = cont; (function (v, i){ }); </s> Three Israeli right-wing activists sought to fight fire with fire, retaliating to incendiary kite attacks from Gaza with their own creation — which crashed short of the border and sparked a blaze near a kibbutz, according to reports.

“There are extremists and there are idiots. The worst is a mix of the two,” tweeted Amir Peretz, a Zionist Union member of the Israeli Knesset.

The three men were captured by Israeli soldiers and held for questioning.

One of them, Ran Karmi Buzaglo, claimed that he and his cohorts had merely been trying to make a “humorous video,” the Israeli Haaretz reported.

The video shows Buzaglo igniting a piece of cloth tied to a kite and trying to set it aloft toward Gaza – but it lands inside Israel as someone is heard shouting, “No, no, no!”

Before launching the Molotov cocktail-like weapon, Buzaglo, 54, delivered a warning to Hamas honcho Ismail Haniyeh.

“Listen, man, don’t play with us,” he said in Arabic before continuing in Hebrew: “We are here on the Gaza border. We will teach them how to do it right. We have prepared gifts for them. Soon they will understand that everything they know how to do, we know how to do better.”

Buzaglo recently mocked Palestinians for using the exact same tactic.

“The best minds of IMI [Systems, an Israeli weapons manufacturer] are developing a laser beam that will intercept kites,” he wrote on Twitter.

“The development will be operational in 2025 and will cost nearly a billion dollars. Meanwhile, the possibility is being considered of putting a bullet in the head of every terrorist who flies a kite bomb.”

A kite carrying flammable material was recently sent from Gaza and sparked a fire near Kibbutz Am close to the border, the Times of Israel reported.

An Israeli soldier shot and wounded the Palestinian as he launched the kite.

In the past several weeks, Gazans have flown kites outfitted with containers of burning fuel – frequently including charcoal and bags of sugar to ensure a long burn – as well as incendiary helium balloons.

Haim Jelin, another Israeli lawmaker, said that “flying an incendiary kite into Israel is equal to launching a Qassam rocket into it.

“Those who do not understand that, don’t understand the implications,” he added. “When the fire is 50 meters away from a community and could easily spread, we cannot ignore under any circumstances the kite terror and allow it to be our routine.” </s> JERUSALEM (AP) — A Palestinian man died in unclear circumstances near the Israel-Gaza border on Monday, hours after Israel and Hamas traded salvos over Palestinian incendiary kites.

The Israeli military said in a statement that five Palestinian militants were wounded while attempting "to sabotage a security infrastructure" along the border in the northern Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Health Ministry said 24-year-old Sabri Abu Khader died an hour after arriving at the hospital, without specifying the cause of his death.

Earlier in the day the Israeli military said it struck nine Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in a bid to deter Palestinians from launching incendiary kites and balloons into Israel.

The army said that the airstrikes were a response "to arson and explosive kites and balloons" launched into Israel in recent weeks. During the bombings, Palestinian militants fired three rockets into southern Israel. No injuries were reported on either side.

The flaming kites and balloons have devastated large swaths of farmland and nature reserves in southern Israel, causing extensive damage to agriculture and threatening local communities.

Gazans began flying kites with burning rags attached to them during mass protests against an Israeli and Egyptian blockade of the territory.

Israeli troops have killed more than 120 Palestinians and wounded over 3,800 since the weekly demonstrations began on March 30. Most of the casualties have been unarmed, drawing heavy international criticism of Israel's open-fire orders.

The Israeli military says it is defending a sovereign border and accuses Hamas of using the protests as cover for attempts to breach the border fence and attack Israeli soldiers and civilians.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The Israeli Defence Forces claim an improvised explosive device was set off near the Gazan border with possible Palestinian casualties and other protestors attempted unsuccessfully to fly a kite carrying a firebomb over the border fence.