A British mortar bomb from Israel’s War of Independence in 1948 was located in a wooded area near Ma’aleh Hahamisha, north of Jerusalem, by a father his children who walked around the area on Saturday afternoon.
Jerusalem District sappers were dispatched to the site, and they determined that it was a British 81mm mortar shell and contained about 500 grams of explosives, left behind during the War of Independence.
After the scene was closed off, the police sapper handled the bomb professionally and destroyed it on the spot.
The Israel Police “asks citizens who come across and locate suspicious items that are not identified, not to approach or touch them for fear that the item may explode and endanger human life.”
Various types of armaments and explosives are discovered periodically around Israel.
On Sunday, the Ministry of Defense completed a series of controlled explosions of Syrian ammunition found about two months ago after a Syrian bunker was exposed during initiated work to clear a minefield in Mitzpe Gadot in the Golan Heights.
The explosion included hundreds of kilograms of mortar shells of various sizes, grenades, and more. The explosions were carried out for safety reasons, so as not to have to move the old ammunition.
The destruction of the Syrian ammunition is the final operation of clearing the minefield in the area of Mitzpe Gadot and the customs house junction. The cleaned area will allow the thousands of visitors who visit the area each year to walk in it safely.
