Israeli troops foiled an attempt to smuggle weapons from Syria into Lebanon, arresting several suspects atop Mount Hermon, the IDF announced Thursday.
It marked the second time within a week that the IDF busted a plot to spirit weapons from Syria into Lebanon in the Hermon area, as the army maintains its presence in parts of southern Syria.
On Wednesday night, soldiers of the 595th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit, who operate surveillance cameras, spotted suspicious movement in the area and dispatched troops to the scene, the army said.
Troops belonging to the 810th “Mountains” Regional Brigade and field interrogators of the Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504 detained several suspects near the peak of Mount Hermon, the military said.
According to the IDF, the suspects were trying to smuggle several firearms into Lebanon. The suspects were taken for further questioning.
A photo of the confiscated weapons shared by the IDF showed a handgun, three assault rifles and nine magazines.
Israeli soldiers in Mount Hermon, northern Israel, January 8, 2025. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)
The IDF has been deployed to nine posts inside southern Syria since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December 2024, mostly within a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the border between the countries. Two posts are on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon.
Troops have been operating in areas up to around 15 kilometers (nine miles) deep into Syria, aiming to capture weapons that Israel says could pose a threat to the country if they fall into the hands of “hostile forces,” including Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
On Saturday last week, the IDF confiscated grenades, handguns, RPGs, and ammunition that traffickers tried to smuggle into Lebanon. The suspects were taken for questioning.
