8:05PM IL: Two bombs were discovered in the past hours along the coastline in Ashkelon and Ashdod. During the past hours, the pieces of the puzzle appear to be coming together, officials report.
The incident began during the afternoon hours, with reports of a suspicious receptacle washed to the shore in Ashkelon with wires protruding from it. It was learned that the suspicious device was a real bomb.
A number of hours later, another buoy of some type of sealed receptacle, identical to the first it appears, was found along the Ashdod beach, once again a real bomb.
The beaches down to Zikim are closed and Shin Bet agents, Israel Police and other security experts are operating, searching for other bombs, which at this time they feel is likely. Citizens are urged to distance themselves from the area, which is closed to the public until further notice.
Authorities point out the bombs appear to have originated in Hamas-controlled Gaza, and they were likely intended as part of a multi-pronged attack; perhaps against civilians along the beach, or more likely, a naval patrol or vessels in harbor.
Police urge anyone seeing anything out of the ordinary along the area coastline to distance themselves immediately and notify police.
The incident appears to have begun about three days ago, with police receiving calls of an explosive sound along the coast in the area. A search did not yield results but now experts believe the bombs today point to the likelihood that the explosion earlier in the week was yet another bomb. As security forces operate along the coastline, they believe additional explosives are in the area.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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4 Responses
more military/intelligence spending if a huge bomb can make it all the way to the shore near tel aviv….
Hashem Yishmor! So scary!
This is actually quite fascinating albeit quite worrisome. There were intelligence reports many months ago that Iran had developed GPS guided mini-submarines that were only 6 feet long, that were sent in trains of subs. They were placed in the water in arab territory and were programmed to follow a course by GPS to end up off the coast of Gaza. Then Gazan fishing trawlers would go out and pick them up in fishing nets and remove their payloads of weaponry and explosives. Israel discovered them and began intercepting them. This may represent a new development of the ability to release these apparent mines in Israeli waters.
Oops, I was wrong. It appears that the explosives were just in barrels and that many of them blew off of the Gaza coast. It appears like the Gazans were trying to get these to float with the current over to Israel and blow there. So far, only 2 have shown up and apparently a few blew up on their own. There may be more floating around.