Police detained five residents of Arad, a city located west of the Dead Sea, on Wednesday after Israel Defense Forces soldiers caught them crossing into Southern Lebanon, the Israel Police said on Thursday.
“This morning, we received a report from the regional division about five civilians from Arad who crossed the fence,” Kiryat Shmona police head Ch. Supt. Arik Berkovitch said in a statement cited by Ynet.
“The civilians were on a trip to the north and continued it into Lebanon. This is extremely dangerous. Lebanon is a clear enemy state, and these civilians could have been harmed from two sides,” Berkovitch added.
The local police chief noted that the group was unarmed and claimed during questioning to have wandered into the warzone by accident.
“The Israel Police reminds the public that traveling to the area around the border fence is prohibited and dangerous, especially as crossing the border with Lebanon is prohibited by law. The punishment for violating the law is up to four years in prison,” the police statement concluded.
While the Nov. 26 truce deal brought an end to active hostilities between Jerusalem and Hezbollah, under its terms, IDF soldiers remain in Southern Lebanon for 60 days. Meanwhile, the Iranian-backed terrorist organization regularly violates the agreement.
On Nov. 20, Ze’ev Erlich, 71, a scholar and archaeological expert on the Land of Israel, was killed in a firefight with Hezbollah terrorists after entering Lebanon as a civilian alongside IDF troops.
Sgt. Gur Kehati, 20, of the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion, from Moshav Nir Banim, was also killed in the attack, which took place at an archeological site some four miles from Israel’s northern border.
Though Erlich was not an active reservist, the military’s Personnel Directorate (formerly called the Manpower Directorate and the Human Resources Directorate) decided to recognize him as a fallen IDF soldier. The circumstances surrounding his death are the subject of a probe.
Col. (res.) Yoav Yarom, the chief of staff of the Golani Brigade who was wounded alongside Erlich, left his position following the incident.
“In light of the values I was brought up on and preached, being that ‘actions speak louder than words,’ I believe that I must take operational responsibility for the event,” Yarom wrote in his resignation letter.
