Police warned the public to stay away from Israel's southern beaches Monday after barrels containing explosives washed up at two locations.
Security forces sealed off a section of the beach Monday at Ashkelon after a barrel with an explosive charge was discovered near the waterline. Police say the explosive was meant for a terror attack.
At about 11:00 AM, an alert citizen called the police hotline and notified police of the suspicious barrel, about 500 meters away from the Holiday Inn hotel. Large police forces, comprised mostly of bomb sappers, were alerted to the scene. A special HQ was set up under the command of Brig.-Gen. Alon Levavi.
In an improvised news conference, Lt.-Col. Chaim Blumenfeld, Ashkelon Police Station Commander, said that police assume the explosives were meant to reach Gaza. “We see a classic case here of an alert citizen who took the trouble of calling the police and thanks to the fact that he did not touch the bomb we averted at event that could have reached very wide proportions.”
Blumenfeld confirmed that the explosive charge was ready for detonation and that the event was security-related, not criminal-related. There were reports of additional charges but police forces, including mounted police, combed the beach and found no other charges. The explosive charge has been neutralized and it is being examined in a special police laboratory. A gag order has been placed on the publication of further details at this time.
Later Monday a suspicious barrel was discovered at Ashdod's Arches Beach (Hof HaKeshatot) after it had washed up there. The area was closed to traffic and police on the ground combed the area, assisted by a police helicopter, naval police and other naval forces.