The Israel Defense Forces overnight on Sunday returned “a number of Israeli civilians” who had crossed into Syrian territory, the army said.
IDF troops were dispatched to the border fence after observers saw the group entering Syria, “and after several minutes, safely returned the civilians to the territory of the State of Israel,” per the statement.
“The Israeli civilians were transferred for further handling by the Israel Police,” it continued, adding that entering enemy territory “constitutes a criminal offense that endangers the civilians and IDF soldiers.”
It was not immediately clear why the group entered Syria.
In December, members of the Bashan Pioneers organization, which seeks to build Israeli communities in Syria, entered the enemy territory for over two hours, even raising the Israeli flag.
The same group was responsible for a previous breaching incident on Aug. 18, when a group of some 10 Jewish activists from Samaria briefly crossed into Syria before being escorted back.
Meanwhile on Feb. 12, two Jewish resettlement activists crossed into Lebanon and organized a tree-planting ceremony near a border village.
The IDF confirmed that observation troops “identified a gathering of approximately 20 Israeli individuals near the Israel-Lebanon border.
“During the gathering, two individuals crossed the border into Lebanon near the community of Yir’on,” it said, adding that soldiers “were dispatched to the scene, located the civilians and returned them safely to Israel.
“The IDF strongly condemns this incident and emphasizes its severity, which constitutes a criminal offense that endangers civilians and IDF troops,” the military statement continued, adding that the suspects would be “transferred to the Israel Police for further processing.”
On Nov. 20, 2024, 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 an Israeli military force.
Sgt. Gur Kehati, 20, of the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion, from Moshav Nir Banim, also died in the confrontation, which took place at an archeological site some four miles north of the Jewish state’s border.
Under Israeli law, citizens who enter designated enemy states without prior government authorization face up to four years imprisonment.
