Grenade thrown at Ashkelon prison, damaging cars

A grenade was thrown at a jail in the southern city of Ashkelon early Wednesday morning, causing damage but no injuries, police and prison officials said, in what appeared to be the second attempted attack on the prison in under two years.

Authorities opened an investigation following the attack by an unidentified assailant, after an explosion was heard near Shikma Prison shortly before 2 a.m. Wednesday, Israel Police and Israel Prison Service spokespeople said.

Responders found a hole blown in the road next to the prison, with a number of cars damaged. No injuries were reported.

Investigators determined that the damage was caused by a grenade that had been thrown in the direction of the prison, the police and prison service said.

Exterior cameras showed an unidentified figure riding by the jail on a quad bike around the time of the explosion, the prison service said.

Police said the incident was likely related to domestic crime and not terror.

Shikma houses a diverse population, with separate wings for security inmates serving time for terror-related offenses and criminal convicts. There are also sections for female prisoners, minors, and inmates requiring enhanced protection.

In October 2022, a stun grenade was thrown at a wall of the jail in the middle of the night, without causing damage or injuries. No arrests were made in that attack.

Wednesday’s incident came as Israel has been rocked in recent weeks by a string of bombings attributed to underworld criminal organizations. One person has been killed and at least three wounded.

In late December, car bombs in Haifa and Netanya left one man dead and another seriously injured, and last week, two people were injured in a pair of explosions in Netanya within 24 hours of each other.

Police suspect that two explosions in Beersheba on Sunday were also related to gangland activity. No one was hurt in those blasts or in an explosion outside a home in Petah Tikva early Tuesday morning.