Israeli Minister Urges Assassination of Gaza Fire Kite Flyers

Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan is calling on the Israeli military to start treating the Palestinian fliers of fire kites as terrorists, saying they should be assassinated by Israeli snipers.

As tensions ratcheted up on the Gaza border recently, Gazans have begun flying kites that have flammable materials attached, trying to set fire to farms in the southern part of Israel, where a dry winter has left a lot of places vulnerable.

Israel’\s government has estimated the fires have caused $2.5 million in damage. An Israeli general says he’s recruited civilian drone operators in southern Israel as “reservists” and told them to fly their drones into the kites to try to down them.

In the long run, Israeli military surveillance drones are being equipped with blades and fishing lines to try to snag the kites. One unnamed Israeli general did, however, conceded that the policy would probably quickly be expanded into shooting kite flyers.