Israeli authorities were still in the dark as to the fate of occupants of a rubber dinghy that washed up empty on shore on Sunday. A number of passports belonging to nationals from Turkey and Somalia were among the personal effects left onboard.
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Authorities were concerned that the bodies of the boat's occupants would wash up on shore and were on alert. The military and police were involved in the searches. Despite the considerable time since the dinghy was found, the IDF said it was still unclear whether the dinghy was abandoned before its arrival off the coast of Israel and the people it had carried, possibly transferred onto another vessel, or if a tragic fate awaited them at sea and they had drowned.
The dinghy reached Israel's shores without an engine, which could explain why it initially went undetected. The Israeli Navy's detection systems typically identify vessels with engines or people on board, using thermal signatures or other means, to detect if explosives or weapons are on board. Several days after its discovery, the IDF concluded that the occupants of the dinghy had either abandoned it or transferred to another vessel.
The boat's occupants were believed to include children leading authorities to suspect they were migrants in flight.
The Foreign Ministry said it had reached out to Turkey to inform them of passports found, that belonged to citizens of that country, but thus far no information was received from Ankara.