Four Israelis detained after entering Lebanon, reportedly to visit rabbi’s tomb
Police note illegal crossings punishable with up to four years in jail; IDF troops in Lebanon find and destroy Hezbollah rocket launchers, anti-tank missiles
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Four Israeli civilians were arrested after illegally entering Lebanon on Thursday, reportedly to visit a shrine, as Israeli troops continuing to operate across the border destroyed Hezbollah weapons and rocket launchers, officials said.
The four suspects, whose names were not published, were detained by Israel Defense Forces troops in southern Lebanon after sneaking across the border, Israeli police said. The suspects — residents of Ashdod, Beit Shemesh, and Hatzor Haglilit — were brought back into Israel and handed over to police for questioning.
Police said in a statement that a decision on whether to charge the four was still pending.
Crossing the border illegally is punishable with up to four years in jail, according to police. Technically enemy states, Israel and Lebanon have no agreed-upon border, instead relying on a UN-mandated ceasefire line known as the Blue Line.
According to Army Radio, the four, all of them Jewish Israelis, were attempting to reach the tomb of Rav Ashi, a fourth-century Babylonian scholar who is believed buried in the hills near Manara in the Galilee panhandle.
The shrine straddles the Blue Line and is situated within a militarized compound hemmed in between an IDF post and UNIFIL base.
The incident came after the IDF admitted Wednesday that a group of settler activists had briefly crossed the northern border and entered Lebanon earlier this month, setting up tents and advocating the establishment of Israeli communities there — a fringe position that no mainstream figure or institution has taken up.
Israeli troops have 60 days from a ceasefire with Hezbollah signed late last month to redeploy south of the Blue Line. Until then, a number of soldiers have remained inside Lebanon where they have continued to hunt down and demobilize Hezbollah arms and infrastructure.
On Thursday, soldiers from the IDF’s 300th “Baram” Regional Brigade found anti-tank missiles, an artillery piece, explosive devices and rocket launchers at Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon, the army said.
צוות הקרב של חטיבה 300 השמיד עמדות שיגור שכוונו לשטח הארץ
לכל הפרטים:https://t.co/b1WiV9KMIa pic.twitter.com/5b7VeLk1ay
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) December 19, 2024
Some of the launchers found by troops were aimed at Israel, the military noted.
Hezbollah started firing barrages of rockets and drones at Israel from Lebanon on October 8, 2023. Their attack came one day after fellow Iranian-backed terror group Hamas, in Gaza, invaded Israel from the south, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, starting the ongoing multi-front war.
After more than a year of fighting, Israel and Hezbollah reached a ceasefire agreement last month. The pact has broadly held, despite some alleged violations by the terror group and respondent Israeli airstrikes.
