IDF admits settler group crossed northern border into Lebanon this month
Military corrects previous statement that activists hadn’t crossed Blue Line, reiterates dangers of civilian attempts to cross border without authorization
The Israel Defense Forces acknowledged on Wednesday that a group of settlers crossed the northern border and entered Lebanon earlier this month, after initially saying that the activists had only set up an encampment near an Israeli border community and were dispersed because the area was a closed military zone.
After further investigation, the military confirmed that “the civilians did indeed cross the Blue Line by several meters,” close to the Lebanese village of Maroun al-Ras, adding that the group was dispersed after being identified by IDF troops.
The settler group was led by the Uri Tzafon Movement, a Religious Zionist organization that has held virtual conferences calling for settlement in southern Lebanon, in areas it claims belong to the Jewish people.
The area the group entered is currently controlled by the IDF as part of a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that was inked last month after 14 months of conflict on the northern border.
The fighting began when the terror group, unprovoked, began firing into Israel on October 8, 2023, in solidarity with Hamas a day after the Palestinian terror group launched a massacre in southern Israel, starting the war in Gaza. The relentless Hezbollah attacks forced the displacement of some 60,000 residents of northern Israel.
The IDF has until January to withdraw from southern Lebanon, where troops have been operating since October to drive Hezbollah from the border region, and cede responsibility for the area to the Lebanese army.
“This is a grave incident that is being investigated,” the IDF said of the Israeli civilians who entered Lebanon. “Any attempt to approach or cross the border into Lebanese territory without coordination [with the army] endangers one’s life and harms the IDF’s ability to operate in the area and fulfill its mission.”
A military source said on Wednesday that in recent weeks the army has been working to block various entry points into Lebanon along the border fence, and troops have been updated on the procedures for civilians reaching the border area.
Support for Jewish settlement in Lebanon remains very small, and no politicians or major figures outside of fringe settler groups have called for their establishment.
No settlements were established in southern Lebanon during Israel’s 1982–2000 occupation of the area, when the IDF maintained a security zone there.
This is in contrast to calls amid the ongoing war to settle Gaza, an idea that has relatively broad support from much of the Israeli far-right, most notably Finance Minster Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who both have repeatedly advocated for the idea.
Hebrew media reported last month that IDF soldiers in Gaza had gone over their superiors’ heads to help a settler leader enter the Strip to survey sites for potential Jewish settlements.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly denied that Israel intends to resettle the Gaza Strip.
The Times of Israel Community.