Settlers fire at Israeli paraglider, Palestinian homes, in separate incidents |
Two Israeli settlers opened fire using army-issued weapons in separate incidents in the West Bank over the weekend — one at an Israeli paraglider mistakenly believed to be a terrorist, and another at Palestinian homes in a refugee camp, the military said Saturday.
Both settlers were part of “area defense force” units — known by its Hebrew acronym Hagmar — which are made up of local settlers in reserve duty.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, a reservist who owns a settlement farm near the community of Pnei Kedem south of Jerusalem, “identified a powered paraglider that entered the airspace of an Israeli community in eastern Gush Etzion.”
“The soldier fired at the paraglider,” the military said, adding that “no damage was caused and there were no casualties,” and that the paraglider then moved away from the area.
The IDF added that the paraglider had coordinated his flight with the military, but after taking off from the Jordan Valley area, he “deviated from the airspace assigned to him,” and was identified as hostile.
“The incident is under investigation,” the military said.
Fears of infiltration using paragliders stem from Hamas’s onslaught on October 7, 2023, when eight terrorists flew into Israel from Gaza before conducting their........