LONDON: The Israeli army said on Monday that it detained two Israeli settlers after they illegally crossed into Syrian territory.
The pair were from the Bashan Pioneers group, which advocates establishing settlements in the south of the Syrian Arab Republic, and made the crossing from the Mount Hermon area, The Times of Israel reported.
After being detained, the settlers were taken back to Israeli territory and handed over to the police, the army said.
It described the incident as “another serious disruption of operational activity” that posed a danger to troops operating in the area. Law enforcement authorities must bring those involved to justice and prevent repeated violations, which it said constituted a “criminal offense.”
However, The Times of Israel reported that no charges had been filed against any members of the Bashan Pioneers, which it said had support from some coalition lawmakers.
שני פעילים של ״חלוצי הבשן״ הצליחו לחדור את הגבול בין ישראל לסוריה, ופרצו למרחב החרמון. כוח צה״ל קפץ לנקודה, החזיר אותם לשטח ישראל והעביר אותם למשטרה. pic.twitter.com/qsXbjiX6ly
— (((IsraelMatzav))) (@IsraelMatzav) July 27, 2026
The incident came after the military said on Wednesday that it had detained several settlers who had tried to cross into Syria. The Jerusalem Post reported that the army nearly fired on five Bashan Pioneers members near the Syrian border two weeks earlier after suspecting they were a “terrorist squad” trying to infiltrate Israel.
In a separate incident, the military said that following a search operation earlier in July, it had detained several Israelis who had illegally crossed into Syrian territory from the Majdal Shams area.
On July 5, it said it blocked about 70 members of the group from crossing into Syria through the Mount Hermon area.
Since the fall of the Bashar Assad regime in December 2024, Israel has occupied the UN-monitored demilitarized buffer zone in southwestern Syria, in what critics say violates the 1974 Disengagement Agreement.
Israeli forces have also carried out repeated incursions into southern Syria, including raids, arrests and attacks that have displaced civilians, according to rights groups and media reports.
On Sunday, Israeli forces made an incursion into Al-Samdaniyah Al-Gharbiyah in Syria’s Quneitra governorate, raiding a house and detaining a civilian before withdrawing, Syria’s state news agency SANA reported.
The same day, Syria’s interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa said that his government was working toward a security agreement with Israel.
He told Al-Jazeera that Syria was avoiding clashes with Israel and that a security arrangement could lead to a broader resolution of the crisis.
Such an agreement would not affect Syria’s claim to the occupied Golan Heights, which Israel has held since 1973, he said.
