Four terrorists were sent on a suicide mission to fly 80 kilometers on motorized hang-gliders into an IDF army base next to the city of Kiryat-Shemonah. One of the attackers reached his target, killing 6 IDF soldiers.
On November 25, 1987 the “Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command”, headed by Palestinian terrorist Ahmed Jibril, launched Operation Kibya (also known as the Night of the Hang-gliders), in which four terrorists were sent to fly 80 kilometers on motorized hang-gliders across the Lebanon-Israel border to Israeli northern city of Kiryat Shemonah. The terrorists were fed with sugar, protein and even amphetamines to provide a necessary surge of energy on their suicidal strike, in which their gear was also booby-trapped in order to create additional casualties even after they would be killed.
While three of the attackers failed to reach their target, the fourth one, Khaled Acker, managed to infiltrate a nearby IDF camp slaying six soldiers and wounding seven before being killed himself. The spectacular attack made a terror icon of Jibril and inspired the first intifada, a period of intense violence by Palestinians against Israel.
