Diver finds missile under the water near Jaffa Port

A missile was found in the sea near Jaffa port on Thursday morning, prompting police to cordon off an area of the coast.

Police said in a statement that its sea enforcement department had closed a section near the port after the discovery of the missile was reported by a civilian diver.

The area was closed off “for public safety until an evaluation and handling of the item is completed by demolition professionals,” police said.

The Jaffa promenade remained open, the statement noted.

Police did not say what type of missile was found or speculate on how it got there, nor whether it had exploded.

Military ordnance left over from various wars fought in the region occasionally turns up. There have also been incidents of munitions or equipment found that fell off Israeli military jets.

During bouts of fighting with the Gaza Strip, Palestinian terror groups have fired thousands of rockets at Israeli towns and cities, some of which reached as far as Tel Aviv, which abuts Jaffa.

In August, two bazooka rockets were found at Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem, the site of a fierce battle between Israeli and Jordanian forces during the 1967 Six Day War.

Also, an external fuel tank from a military jet washed up on an Ashdod beach in 2019 with pundits speculating it came from an Israeli plane.

Jaffa has a history of unexploded weapons. In 2018, an archaeological dig found a 100-year-old shell in the city. During the restoration of the Jaffa railway station in 2007 — according to the Ynet website — around 80 rifles of various kinds were found, some dating back to the British Mandate era of 1920-1948.