IDF escorts hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews to pray at tomb straddling Lebanon border
Visit comes after weeks of incidents in which Hassidim crossed border barrier to try and reach apparent burial place of scholar from the Lebanese side, clashing with Israeli troops
Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews were escorted by the military on Friday to the apparent burial place of a Babylonian scholar on the Lebanon border, after weeks of illegal attempts to reach the site.
Rav Ashi is believed to be buried in the hills near Manara in the Galilee panhandle. The shrine marking his burial spot straddles the Blue Line border position and is situated within a militarized compound hemmed in between an IDF post and a UNIFIL base.
Footage showed the ultra-Orthodox Hassidim praying at the site.
Over the past several weeks there were several incidents of Hassidim crossing Israel’s border barrier to try and reach the tomb from the Lebanese side, clashing with IDF troops amid the attempts.
The IDF is reported to have reached arrangements with the Hassidim to allow them to pray at the site after it was entirely closed off amid the fighting with Hezbollah.
Several years ago, the IDF had similar escorted visits to the tomb.
לראשונה: מאות חסידים הגיעו לפנות בוקר להתפלל את תפילת שחרית בקבר רב אשי, במובלעת בשטח לבנון, באישור צה״ל ותחת אבטחה צה״לית pic.twitter.com/yfs8c6cSK2
— דורון קדוש | Doron Kadosh (@Doron_Kadosh) March 7, 2025
There have been several occasions when Israeli civilians crossed the border into Lebanon since the November ceasefire halted 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
In addition to the Hassidim, a group of settler activists briefly crossed the border and entered Lebanon in December, setting up tents and advocating the establishment of Israeli communities there — a fringe position that no mainstream figure or institution has taken up.
Hezbollah had begun attacking Israel across the border on October 8, 2023, the day after the Palestinian terror group Hamas led thousands of terrorists to invade southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 to the Gaza Strip, and triggering a war in the coastal enclave.
Fighting with the Iran-backed Lebanon-based terror group escalated into open war during which Israel decimated its leadership and depleted its fighting abilities.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was reached at the end of November.
