A handful of Jewish resettlement activists crossed into Lebanese territory on Thursday and held a tree-planting ceremony near the border village of Yaroun, the Israel National News outlet reported.
The activists, led by the Uri Tzafon (“North Awaken”) movement, which advocates for Jewish settlement in Southern Lebanon, reportedly carried signs that read, “Strike roots, plant security.”
Yaroun is a Shi’ite Muslim village located less than a mile from the security fence, opposite the Israeli community of Kibbutz Bar’am.
Among the participants were residents of Israel’s north, Israel Defense Forces reservists and relatives of Sgt. 1st Class (res.) Israel Socol, who was killed fighting Hamas terrorists in Gaza in January 2024. The Uri Tzafon movement is named in his honor, Israel National News said.
Anna Slotzkin, Socol’s sister and one of the leaders of Uri Tzafon, stated, “We came here today to plant trees and put down roots in the soil of our homeland, regardless of fences.” The activist added, “The State of Israel must renew settlement in Lebanon; it is historically justified, necessary for security and morally right.”
Some Religious Zionist activists seek a return to parts of Lebanon, which are part of the ancient Land of Israel. In the Bible, the areas allotted to the tribe of Asher are described as reaching as far as Sidon, located approximately 25 miles north of the Jewish state’s modern border.
The IDF confirmed in a statement shared with JNS on Thursday evening that “IDF surveillance 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 continued, saying that soldiers “were dispatched to the scene, located the civilians and returned them safely to Israeli territory.
Israeli forces currently control the area the activists entered, as part of the Nov. 26, 2024, ceasefire agreement that ended over a year of hostilities with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist army.
“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.”
In December 2024, the Israeli military admitted that members of Uri Tzafon had crossed the border close to the village of Maroun al-Ras.
The military had initially denied that the activists had entered Lebanon on Dec. 5, 2024, claiming instead they had only managed to set up an encampment near a border town that was a closed military zone.
Following further investigation into the incident, the military stated that “the civilians did indeed cross the Blue Line by several meters,” adding that “this is a grave incident that is being investigated.”
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, was also killed in the confrontation, which took place at an archeological site some four miles from the Jewish state’s border.
Though Erlich was not an active reservist, the IDF Personnel Directorate (formerly called the Manpower Directorate and the Human Resources Directorate) decided to recognize him as a fallen Israeli soldier.
