Balloons in Kiryat Gat neutralized
Photo: Police
Sappers neutralize another bomb found on Gaza border
Bomb, found earlier this week, is second to have been neutralized by sappers; incendiary balloons also discovered in Eshkol Regional Council and in children's playground in Kiryat Gat; no injuries reported and no fire ignited.
Security forces neutralized an explosive device on Friday morning that was found earlier this week next to the security fence on the border of the Gaza Strip.
No injuries were reported and no damage was caused.
It is the second explosive device to have been discovered in one week on the border.
Balloons in Kiryat Gat neutralized (Photo: Police)
Also on Friday morning, a bunch of balloons were discovered in a children’s playground in Kiryat Gat which were affixed with what appeared to be a combustible thread that did not burn.
Police believe that the balloons were sent from Gaza.
It was the second incident in one day involving incendiary balloons, with several which were connected to an explosive device being found in Eshkol Regional Council near the Gaza Strip.
“Hamas continues to try and harm the defensive infrastructure of the security forces along the security fence while using civilians in the strip as shields and as cover for acts of terror,” the IDF said in a statement.
The report about the balloons in the children’s playground in the southern city was received at 6:57am. Sappers and other security forces were called to the scene to remove the incendiary device.
No damage was caused in Kiryat Gat or in the Eshkol Regional Council in the two separate incidents.
Police urged southern residents to “be alert and responsible and don’t touch suspicious objects such as balloons and kites whose origin is not known.”
Bomb neutralized on Thursday (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
The string of incidents raise fears among Israelis in the south of a creeping return of tensions on the border, which were reduced in recent weeks as Israel engages in indirect ceasefire talks with Hamas.
A pipe bomb was thrown at a group of IDF soldiers overnight Thursday near the Gaza border, prompting the troops to respond with live fire on three Palestinians seen crawling along the security fence.
Earlier on Thursday, IDF soldiers neutralized an explosive device located near the security fence in the southern Gaza Strip.
According to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, the terror squad that planted the bomb had "planned to injure the soldiers and disrupt the activity of the forces operating in the area.”
