Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
The al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, released on June 21 an interesting video showing its fighters targeting an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) over the Gaza Strip using a Soviet-made SA-18 Igla man-portable anti-aircraft system (MANPADs)
The helicopter was targeted on June 20 as it was covering the evacuation of wounded Israeli troops from the Sheborah refugee camp in the southern Gaza area of Rafah, the group said. At the time, two soldiers were wounded there in an ambush claimed by the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Gaza-ruling Hamas Movement.
The Igla infrared-guided missile has a maximum engagement range of 5,2 kilometers. It is armed with a warhead weighing 1.17 kg.
In the footage, the anti-aircraft missile is seen heading directly at the Apache which dumped flares in an attempt to dodge it.
There were no reports of any Apache crashing in or near Gaza on June 20. However, it is very likely that the helicopter seen in the footage was damaged.
Palestinian armed factions in Gaza shot down an Israeli CH-53 transport helicopter during the October 7 surprise attack, which started the war, and later one managed to down dozens of drones of different types over the Strip.
Despite the immense firepower used by the IDF, Israeli warplanes are still being targeted by MANPADs over Gaza more than eight months into the war.
The IDF’s failure to neutralize the very limited air defense capabilities of Gaza factions could eventually lead to a serious disaster for Israel. With capable MANPADs like the Igla in the hands of Palestinian fighters, Israel could soon lose a helicopter over the Strip.
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would’ve been awesome to see the helicopter go kaboom!
well it didn’t. cope harder
like russia, they don’t need to show the end result, they know they are winning and israel is losing. :)
zdf the most criminal and shitty military on earth.
it should not be that hard to take one down. instead of trying to hit them in the air, where they can maneuver and deploy flares, wait until they hover to take on wounded or drop off soldiers. those flares won’t do any good then and they won’t be able to flee. eliminating choppers will put an immense strain on their military, israel relies on them quite heavily. of course, taking them out also reduces the amount of pilots…not to mention soldiers in the immediate area.
is an apache, it likely doesn’t hover to pickup troops. their training generally tells them to keep moving as they know a stationary helicopter is likely a dead helicopter
clearly you never served in any military with a such a stupid take like that. arm chair generals are the worst.
booooooa sugestão. atenção palestina, coloquem em prática o que nosso irmão falou!
okupantov treba zničiť a to akýmkoľvek spôsobom!!! mor ho!!!
anything goes that will harm the jews. sooner or later they will be forced to flee and their weapons, paid by the sheeple in the disunited states of a, won’t be of much help. from the river to the sea!!
never gonna happen. cope harder.
great work palestinian fighters
why they did not show the outcome? perhaps because the missile missed the target?
like russia, they don’t need to show the end result, they know they are winning and israel is losing. :)
this war were plan by cia,mossad,m16 with the blessings of france,britain,usa by betraying palistine fighters.
yup… cardinal sin of just so happening to exist on a gas and oil field… petro dollar predators are never far off…
glória e poder à resistência palestina! em plena guerra o hamas se rearma com armas ultra-sofisticadas! invencível hamas e jihad islâmica!