Palestinians Are Converting This Noisy, Low-Tech Item Into a Makeshift Weapon Against Israeli Police

Palestinian protesters have been using firecrackers — a low-tech yet reliably loud and explosive weapon — against Israeli security forces in recent clashes in Jerusalem and the West Bank, so much so that the Israeli government is weighing temporarily stopping the importation of certain fireworks into so rioters can't use them as weapons.

This video, posted Wednesday, shows masked protesters shooting off dozens of firecrackers:

The Israeli news site HaKol HaYehudi reported that this video taken last week showed Palestinians shooting firecrackers from behind an ambulance:

A video posted by British newspaper the Telegraph showed numerous firecrackers and large rocks being fired at Israeli police Wednesday from inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem's Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism and third holiest to Muslims.

According to Israel’s Army Radio, some Palestinians have been tying the firecrackers onto the ends of brooms to shoot their targets like a makeshift gun.

There are also those firing a barrage of firecrackers at once out of containers which can fire up to 25 burning projectiles.

A masked Palestinian youth fires firecrackers at Israeli security forces during a protest in east Jerusalem, Oct. 30, 2014. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images)

Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz termed the adoption of the item traditionally used at celebrations as the “Firecracker Intifada,” or uprising.

Army Radio reported that dozens of police officers have been injured in recent months by firecrackers aimed at them, often when their clothes caught fire. A tourist was lightly wounded by a firecracker thrown in Jerusalem’s Old City over the weekend.

Israeli police released this photo showing a firecracker container and launching stand confiscated from Palestinians:

Image source: Israel Police