Israeli researchers are developing new methods to locate and remove unexploded munitions from the Mediterranean Sea, a project that could reopen 2 kilometers of coastline near Rishon Lezion while offering a model for similar efforts worldwide. The initiative comes as nearly half of Israel's 194-kilometer coastline remains off-limits to civilians, consumed by commercial ports, power plants, military bases and firing zones that restrict public access to valuable real estate.
The Challenge
The effort isn't going smoothly. On a June dive off the coast of Rishon Lezion, divers searched for yellow-painted mock mortar shells and surfaced empty-handed after hours on the seabed. It was the team's fifth diving trip in the yearslong experiment. "It's really hard to find things in the sea," said Roy Jaijel, a researcher in the marine geology and geophysics department at Israel's National Institute of Oceanography. Israel Faintuch, head of the Maritime Division at Israel's Ministry of Defense National Mine Action Authority, put it more bluntly: "It's like looking for a needle in a haystack."
The project aims to return shoreline to people living in Israel's central city of Rishon Lezion, an area that's been used as a firing range for decades. Since the country's founding nearly 80 years ago, 7 kilometers of Rishon Lezion's shoreline has served as a firing range, launching grenades as well as small and large mortars. That's left hundreds of thousands of people crammed into a narrow strip of beach.
The Method
To gather data, divers place fake munitions of various sizes at depths of 5, 10 and 15 meters, and up to 1.2 kilometers offshore. Some are equipped with motion sensors. After several months, they retrieve the munitions, analyze the data and plant new ones. Preliminary findings show the munitions moved less than expected, which could mean less area needs clearing, according to Dafna Eliahu, a graduate student working on the project. "So with actual live munition I expect it to be very difficult, very hard to locate and to actually be able to find them," Eliahu said.
Israel's Defense Ministry wants enough data to start clearing by the end of next year and expand the shoreline by an initial 150 meters within a few months. Completing the project will take years and cost tens of millions of dollars. It's already been delayed by Israel's multiple wars with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran because divers can't work when missiles are falling and could land in the sea. During the current war that the U.S. and Israel launched against Iran and the 12-day war last June between Israel and Iran, the army said missiles aimed at larger cities like Rishon Lezion fell into the sea but wouldn't specify how many.
Beyond Israel's Borders
The project is one of the first to focus on clearing smaller munitions in complicated underwater terrain, and leaders say the findings could be useful beyond Israel. According to the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining, more than half of global incidents related to unexploded ordnance were recorded in the Middle East between 2014 and 2023, with most occurring in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen and the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, largely because of Yemen's civil war.
Pedro Basto, research and innovation program manager with the group, said it's important to keep interest high in removing underwater explosives because of the increasing dependence on the seas. "Both renewable energies based on the sea (wind turbines and harnessing water currents) and the global connectivity that most of the world relies on every minute of every day, depend massively on underwater cable laying," he said.
Israel says no one has been injured or killed by unexploded sea ordnance, but there have been about a dozen sightings of devices in the last 20 years where police and the army were called. Most were found on or near shore.
Moria Malka, head spokesperson for the city's municipality, said the clearance will triple the area's coastline and much of it will become a nature reserve as well as a residential area near the sea. For beachgoers like Mark Kostman, that's welcome news. "Holidays and Saturdays, all of this place is completely crowded and too dense to even have fun," Kostman said while playing volleyball with his children next to the firing zone. "Having it as public space for leisure and sport ... it's wonderful."
Why This Matters:
The project represents a practical approach to reclaiming public assets from decades of military use while maintaining national security. Nearly half of Israel's coastline remains unavailable to civilians, representing significant economic opportunity costs in a country where beachfront property commands premium prices. The tens of millions of dollars required for cleanup must be weighed against the potential value of returned land for residential development, tourism and commercial use. The research could prove valuable for other nations facing similar challenges, particularly in the Middle East where unexploded ordnance incidents have dominated global statistics over the past decade. The effort also highlights the hidden costs of prolonged conflict, as ongoing wars continue to delay the project and potentially add new hazards to coastal waters. Success would demonstrate how targeted investment in clearance operations can unlock valuable public resources while establishing safety protocols that other countries could replicate.