The Israel Defense Forces said Monday that two Israeli civilians arrived at the Mount Hermon area and crossed the border into Syria. An IDF force located the two, returned them to Israeli territory, and detained them. The military condemned the incident as a serious disruption to operational activity and a danger to troops, and called for prosecution.
The IDF on Monday evening confirmed that two Israeli civilians crossed the border into Syria from the Mount Hermon area, condemned the incident as a "serious disruption" to operational activity, and called for their prosecution. Troops located the pair, returned them to Israeli territory, and detained them. The two were identified as activists from the Bashan Pioneers group, which has been involved in a series of similar border crossing attempts in recent weeks.
The story broke at 13:46 Jerusalem when N12 journalist Guy Varon reported that activists had re-entered the Mount Hermon area beyond the border. Within minutes, the IDF issued a statement confirming the detention of two civilians who had crossed illegally. The military then released a series of statements condemning the crossing as a criminal offense that endangers troops and disrupts operations, and later identified the detainees as members of the Bashan Pioneers.
The Mount Hermon border has seen repeated attempts by this group. As The Zioneer reported on July 22, the IDF prevented Israeli civilians from crossing into Syria. On July 18, the IDF detained Israelis who crossed the border. On July 9, the IDF detained activists after an overnight attempt. The IDF has consistently condemned these incidents and called for legal action.
It remains unclear whether the two detainees will be charged. Earlier reports noted that police have repeatedly released such activists despite the criminal offenses, raising questions about the enforcement of the law.
6 developments
- StrongIDF confirms it prevented Israeli civilians from crossing into Syria at Mount Hermon
- ConfirmedIDF detains settler activists after overnight attempt to cross into Syria at Mount Hermon
- StrongIDF detains Israelis who crossed into Syria
- StrongIDF detained 70 'Bashan Pioneers' activists attempting to cross into Syria at Mount Hermon
Source and signal
- Open-source intake