Detained on Mount Hermon: Two Young Israelis Crossed Into Syrian Territory

The IDF Spokesperson said this afternoon (Monday) that earlier today, two Israeli civilians arrived in the Mount Hermon area and crossed the border into Syrian territory. An IDF force dispatched to the scene located the civilians, acted to return them to Israeli territory, and detained them. The civilians were transferred to Israel Police for further handling.

Over the past two weeks, there have been several attempts by Israelis to cross into Syria. The IDF Spokesperson stated that "The IDF strongly condemns the incident, which constitutes a serious disruption to operational activity and a danger to the security of IDF forces operating in the area. Law enforcement authorities are required to fully prosecute those involved, in order to prevent these civilians from repeating this phenomenon again and again, which constitutes a criminal offense".

The two civilians detained today belong to an organization calling itself "Pioneers of the Bashan." In some cases, the goal of crossing is to try to rally support for establishing Israeli outposts beyond the border.

As a reminder, a little over a week ago several Israelis crossed the border, and they were located only after about a day inside Syrian territory. They were transferred to the police for further handling. At the same time, several civilians were detained over the past week before they managed to cross the border fence.