During routine counterterrorism activities to confiscate weapons in the Judea Regional Brigade area, the 603rd Combat Engineering Battalion soldiers were expecting to find stored weapons and ammunition ready to be used by terrorist operatives to carry out their next attack. They were surprised, however, when they entered the location provided to them by precise intelligence and discovered it was a kindergarten.
Among the bags, toys, dolls and board games laid dangerous weapons.
“We received an order to enter the building,” recalls CPT Yakir Ohaion, a company commander in the 603rd Battalion. “When we entered we saw a playground with slides and games. We immediately realized where we were, and began scanning the area, discovering an attic.”
After opening the attic the soldiers began emptying out its contents. Among various bags they found one leather bag and in it a handgun, an improvised weapon and ammunition. They continued to search and found loaded weapons under the mattresses on which the children of the kindergarten would sleep.
Commanding Officer of the 603rd Combat Engineering Battalion: “ I can’t help but imagine a child crawling around and touching weapons. This is a horrific, tragic situation.”
The battalion has not encountered such a starkly dangerous incident in the past two years at least, stated the two commanders. “This isn’t something you see every day,” concludes CPT Ohaion, “I very much hope we will not encounter a similar case anytime soon, but we will continue operating around the clock to thwart any future threats.
