(Ynet News) Ron Ben Yishai - At 2 p.m. on Friday, as if they received a signal, Palestinians who had gathered near the Karni crossing began rioting. On the Palestinian side, with the volume turned up to the maximum, an announcer thundered a mix of slogans calling for return to the Palestinian homeland and praising the "shahid (martyr) heroes." His shouting was replaced by war songs as the first of the incendiary kites went up into the air. On the Israeli side, a drone went up into the air, blew up two kites within a second, and landed back down. Buses brought 2,000 people, mostly youths. There were hardly any kids this time. In the hours I was there - until 6:30 p.m. when the Palestinian rioters started dispersing - I didn't notice much motivation. The thousands that ran to the fence in spearhead formation two weeks ago, with Hamas men leading the charge, were nowhere to be seen. Their entire conduct this week was sluggish, as if done just to fulfill an obligation. This time IDF forces were out in large numbers, clearly seen on the other side. There's no doubt this had a deterring effect. There were also more kites shot down using drones than before. The fields around us on the Israeli side were filled with dozens, if not hundreds, of kites.
2018-06-11 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive