IDF briefly detains 4 Syrians near border

An IDF patrol detained four Syrian citizens spotted near the Israeli-Syrian border in the Golan Heights Friday evening. After a brief investigation revealed that they were unarmed and did not pose a security threat, the men, who apparently belong to the opposition forces, were released.

Also on Friday, a 50-year-old Syrian woman was brought to the Sieff Medical Center in Safed for treatment. The woman, who was suffering from abdominal injuries, was in moderate condition having undergone initial treatment in a Syrian field hospital. According to Walla News, she had undergone surgery that went wrong and required advanced treatment in Israel.

Approximately 100 Syrians have been brought to Israel for treatment over the last several months.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon in early June confirmed for the first time that Israel is operating a field hospital on the Syrian border. He said the IDF was transferring severely wounded Syrian nationals to Israeli hospitals for treatment.

“Our policy is to help in humanitarian cases, and to that end we are operating a field hospital along the Syrian border,” Ya’alon told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. “In cases where there are badly wounded, we transfer them to Israeli hospitals. We have no intention of opening refugee camps.”