The Israel Defense Forces admitted on Wednesday that an Israeli group advocating for Jewish settlement in Southern Lebanon had crossed the border close to the village of Maroun al-Ras earlier this month.
The army had initially denied that the activists, led by the Uri Tzafon (North Awaken) Movement had entered Lebanese territory on Dec. 5, saying that they set up an encampment near an Israeli border community that was a closed military zone and that they were dispersed.
Following further investigation into the incident, the military said that “the civilians did indeed cross the blue line by several meters, and after being identified by IDF troops, they were dispersed,” adding that “this is a grave incident that is being investigated.”
The IDF emphasized that “any attempt to approach or cross the border into Lebanese territory without coordination endangers one’s life and harms the IDF’s ability to operate in the area and fulfill its mission.”
Maroun al-Ras is a Shi’ite village located less than a mile from the Israeli border.
Israeli forces currently control the area the activists entered, as part of a two-month ceasefire agreement that ended over a year of hostilities with the Hezbollah terror group. Israeli soldiers are gradually withdrawing from Southern Lebanon, to be replaced by the Lebanese Armed Forces. The Iranian proxy must retreat north of the Litani River.
The Religious Zionist organization posted to the group’s Telegram channel on Dec. 5 that six families had crossed into Southern Lebanon, with dozens of activists setting up an encampment called “May Marom,” planting trees at the site in memory of Yehuda Dror, who fell in battle in Lebanon two months earlier.
The group posted pictures of the temporary encampment, including the activists holding a banner in Hebrew reading “Lebanon is ours.”
“We came here as preparation ahead of the creation of the future settlement group and to remember Yehuda Dror. Maroun al-Ras was an ancient Israelite settlement called May Marom. Yehuda fell in battle in Ayta ash-Shaab, a village where Jewish priests once lived. With God’s help, we will one day return to the places in Lebanon where Jews once lived since the land is very good,” the group said.