Paragliders fired on fleeing civilians: How squads of Palestinians on suicide missions swooped over the Israeli border - spreading fear and chaos among cowering families

Hamas terrorists blitzed into Israel on motorised paragliders during a lightning offensive yesterday morning while thousands of rockets rained down across the south of the country. Footage showed squads of Palestinians on suicide missions swooping over the border on the aircraft, spreading fear and chaos among cowering families below before landing and opening fire on Israeli civilians and soldiers alike. This was one of a number of methods the Palestinians used to breach Israel's fortress-like defences around the Gaza Strip. The terrorists fired some 2,500 missiles into Israel from 7am UK time. As they rained down on major towns, and even as far as Tel Aviv nearly 50 miles away, fighters used explosives to break through the border fence. Convoys of motorcycles and pick-up trucks then sped into Israel while other terrorists reportedly jumped into heavily armed speedboats to storm naval defences.