Massive Explosion Rocks Gaza, Dozens Injured

ISTANBUL -- A massive explosion injured dozens of people in Gaza Thursday evening and killed at least one, according to local radio reports. The explosion took place when a team in northern Gaza tried to defuse a bomb left over from the war last summer, locals reported. It was not immediately clear what caused the missile to explode. Some locals told International Business Times the explosion took place at a Hamas training camp, others said a missile exploded when an Israeli Defense Force team tried to diffuse it.

Belal Dabour, a Palestinian doctor living in Gaza who was active on Twitter during the conflict, posted updates to his time line about the explosion. He said 40 were injured from the explosion and that the local media reported one person had been killed in the incident.

At the time of this report, the Israeli Defense Force had not posted a statement on its social media accounts.

Following wars in Gaza, residents living there form teams of experts to defuse unexploded bombs left behind by the Israeli Defense Force. In August, following the end of what Israel called Operation Protective Edge, the Guardian reported that the Palestinians defusing the bombs often do not have the proper equipment or protective gear to do their job.

The Israeli Defense Force and the Israeli police forces both have teams of men and women skilled at defusing bombs. It is unclear which unit of the Israeli Defense Force was in charge at the time the bomb exploded or if any Palestinian bomb squads were present.

Since August, local Palestinian and Israeli media outlets have reported several incidents of leftover munitions exploding in Gaza. In October, a 4-year-old boy was killed when he touched an unexploded missile, the Times of Israel reported.