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Israel Destroys Old Syrian Ammunition Discovered in Secret Golan Heights Bunker
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by Sharon Wrobel
A general view shows the town of Majdal Shams near the ceasefire line between Israel and Syria in the Golan Heights March 25, 2019. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Israel on Sunday destroyed hundreds of kilograms of Syrian ammunition from the 1967 Six-Day War that was discovered in a bunker in the Golan Heights.
“The explosion was carried out for safety reasons. During the detonation surrounding areas and roads in the Golan Heights were closed off,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The old Syrian military bunker was discovered by the Defense Ministry’s Mine Action Authority in early November, during a project to clear minefields around the area of Mitzpe Gadot. It was filled with ordnance, including mortar shells, pyrotechnic munitions, explosives, and spray grenades — all in original packaging.
Before Israel captured the region from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War, the area where the bunker was found served as a strategic Syrian outpost, also known as Al-Murtafah, which the Syrian army used to fire at Israeli communities.
Today, Mizpe Gadot hosts a memorial for the fallen soldiers of the Israeli military’s Alexandroni 3rd Brigade, the first that broke through the Syrian lines. Sunday’s detonation is the final in an effort to clear mines in the Mitzpe Gadot area, which should allow thousands of visitors to safely return, the Defense Ministry said.
Since it was established in 2011, the Mine Action Authority has cleared tens of thousands of mines scattered across Israel, including in areas around the Dead Sea, the Arava, Eilat, the Beit She’an Valley, and Majdal Shams and Had Nes in northern Israel. The cleared areas are then used as parks, nature reserves, agricultural land, and for other purposes.
