Huge ‘controlled ammunition explosion’ in IDF firing zone rocks southern Israel
Military apologizes for failure to notify residents in advance of massive blast near Kiryat Gat; footage circulating online shows a large mushroom cloud
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The military on Wednesday afternoon said it had carried out a “controlled” disposal of old ammunition, causing a massive blast that led to some confusion among residents of southern Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces did not notify residents in advance and only commented some two hours after the mysterious explosion rocked southern Israel.
Footage circulating online showed a large mushroom cloud near the city of Kiryat Gat.
The videos and pictures were geolocated by Haaretz’s Avi Scharf to an area south of the southern town of Lachish. The location of the blast appeared to be within the military’s Firing Zone 309b or 309c.
The blast was “a preplanned controlled ammunition explosion; there is no risk of a security incident,” the IDF said in a statement some two hours later.
There were no reports of injuries or damage in the blast.
כן, הפיצוץ שהרעיד את קרית גת ולכיש תועד בזמן אמת ע"י חיילים ושוטר
שימוש לפי סעיף 27א' pic.twitter.com/qPrDBsg52W
— איתי בלומנטל Itay Blumental (@ItayBlumental) June 7, 2023
On Wednesday evening, the IDF said that it “regrets that no advance notice was given to the residents of the south today about the explosion that occurred in the Kiryat Gat area,” adding that “the matter will be investigated.”
In April 2021, a mysterious intense fire was reported in central Israel, which was later thought to have been a test of a rocket motor by an Israeli defense company.
