Israel Defense Forces lookouts on Monday spotted two suspects attempting to smuggle five firearms from Syria into Israel.
According to the IDF, troops were dispatched to the area, arrested the suspects and prevented the smuggling attempt.
The detainees and the seized weapons were transferred to the Israel Police for further investigation.
IDF soldiers have continued counter-terror operations in southern Syria over the past two months, dismantling infrastructure, seizing weapons and arresting suspects, the military disclosed Sunday.
According to the IDF, paratroopers from the 226th Brigade, operating under the command of the 210th Division, conducted dozens of raids as part of Jerusalem’s defensive effort in Syria’s south.
The soldiers apprehended suspected terrorists and located and confiscated weapons “to ensure the safety of Israeli civilians and residents of the Golan Heights in particular,” the statement stressed, adding that the 210th Division continues to operate defensively in Syrian territory.
After the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, Jerusalem seized control of large parts of southern Syria, expanding a security zone and maintaining a military presence amid ongoing clashes and airstrikes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sept. 22 dismissed reports that his government was willing to give up the country’s buffer zone in Syria as part of a potential security deal with the new regime in Damascus.
Talks with Syria are focused on “a security arrangement in which they demilitarize southwest Syria, and we ensure the security of our Druze allies in Jabal al-Druze,” stated the Israeli leader in a recording on X.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced in August that there had been some progress in the ongoing negotiations for renewed security understandings with Jerusalem based on the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement that ended the Yom Kippur War.
While the president told reporters that he does not view the current circumstances as favorable for concluding a comprehensive peace agreement, he said he would “not hesitate” to do so if he becomes convinced that this would benefit Syria and the broader region.
