A tank, believed to be older than the state of Israel, was spotted by a young boy who saw the turret protruding from a dune in the Negev sands of Holot Nitzanim. Police demolitions experts also found a land mine and old tank shells nearby, which they made safe in a controlled explosion.
Local officials from the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council believe that the Israeli Defence Forces may once have used the tank for training purposes, and that it was only exposed because of recent dust storms. The Holot Nitzanim area was used for years as an IDF training site, and tanks were often placed there as targets. Although the IDF has not held training exercises in the area since the 1980s the council says it is likely that there are still many tank remnants there
