Weapons shrapnel were mistakenly dropped Sunday morning over Kibbutz Dan near the northern border following an Israeli Air Force strike in southern Lebanon. It marked the second such incident this month, after a fighter jet accidentally dropped a bomb over Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak near the Gaza border about two weeks ago due to a technical malfunction.
No injuries were reported in either case, and the IAF has launched an investigation into the incident.
Around 9 a.m., residents of the Upper Galilee reported hearing a loud explosion. A crater was later found near the border within Kibbutz Dan's territory. The local regional council informed residents that “during IDF offensive operations in the eastern sector, a missile exploded in agricultural land near Kibbutz Dan.” The military later clarified that the incident involved weapon fragments falling from a fighter jet.
A similar incident occurred two weeks ago, when a bomb was accidentally dropped in the area surrounding Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak. At the time, the IDF reported that the ordnance fell relatively close to the kibbutz's western fence, on the outer side, and at a distance from residential homes.
Residents said they hardly noticed the unusual event, as they have become accustomed to frequent sounds of explosions from ongoing IDF operations in the Gaza Strip.
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Such incidents are not unprecedented. In June of last year, a shell fired by an IDF tank at a target in Gaza veered off course and landed inside Israeli territory near the border fence. The military said the malfunction was under investigation.
A month earlier, a 500-kilogram bomb dropped from an Israeli Air Force F-15 fighter jet was found between homes in the moshav of Yated in the Eshkol region. At the time, the IDF described the malfunction as "exceptional, rare, severe and dangerous."