IDF detains unarmed man who crossed into Israel from Syria

IDF soldiers arrested a man who crossed into Israel from Syria on Tuesday afternoon, the army said.

The man was unarmed when he breached the security fence in the southern Golan Heights.

Unlike a Lebanese man who last month illegally entered Israel and traveled over two miles before he was caught, the suspected infiltrator from Syria was arrested close the border, a short time after he entered the country.

The man was taken in for questioning to determine why he broke into Israel from war-torn Syria, the army said.

On April 27, the aforementioned Lebanese man entered Israel near the community of Margaliot on the northern border. He walked just over three kilometers to the nearby city of Kiryat Shmona where he was arrested at a bus station, after people noticed him behaving strangely.

In an interview on Lebanese television, the man’s father confirmed this account, saying his son suffered from mental health issues and believed he was Jewish.

“My son’s mind is not right. He says he was originally Jewish,” the father said when asked if he was aware of his son’s desire to go to Israel. “Can you imagine a normal person doing such a thing?”

Two senior IDF officers and four other servicemen from the IDF’s Northern Command were punished over that incident. The deputy commander of the company responsible for the area where the Lebanese man entered Israel was dismissed from his position, and the battalion commander of the area received an official black mark on his record, the army said, noting their failings in handling the incident.

Four other officers and soldiers also faced disciplinary hearings.