Israeli soldier dies when grenade goes off; anti-government rally planned

Jan. 15 (UPI) -- An 18-year-old Israeli soldier was killed on Saturday after a grenade he allegedly found during a training exercise earlier exploded in his backpack, officials said.

Israeli officials said a preliminary investigation revealed that Denis Zinoviev found the grenade at a West Bank military base possibly Friday. Instead of calling the bomb squad as protocol requires, the soldier took the grenade with him.

Zinoviev and his fellow soldiers from the Kfir infantry brigade were preparing for sleep Saturday when the explosion happened. Military police believe Zinoviev handle the backpack in a way that caused the grenade to explode and that the weapons was not being directly handled at the time.

Officials said they do not believe the injured soldiers knew the grenade was in the room.

The wounded were evacuated via helicopter to a nearby hospital. The Israel Defense Force announced that all training at the base had been suspended to conduct searches for unexploded ordinances, ammunition and weapons.

Meanwhile, anti-government protesters said they planned to demonstrate near IDF headquarters and other facilities in the government complex at Tel Aviv to protest the Netanyahu administration's plans for a mass judicial shakeup.

The protest organizers said the demonstrations would take place on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv instead of at Habima Square so more people could participate in a less residential area.

"The journey to stop this coup has just begun," organizers said. "This is a determined and uncompromising fight to save democracy, and the people of Israel are coming out en masse to protest."