Soldiers Who Missed Woman Crossing Syrian Border Won’t Face Discipline

YERUSHALAYIM
A view of the border fence between Israel and Syria seen from the Israeli side of the border. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

IDF soldiers on border duty who failed to raise an alarm when an Israeli woman crossing into Syria, which led to an international incident, will not face disciplinary action, the military said on Monday.

An investigation found that the soldiers had followed protocols and were not guilty of any negligence in the matter.

A soldier operating a security camera scanned the area for signs of an infiltration when a sensor signaled a breach. However, as he was trained to look for anybody infiltrating into Israel from Syria, he failed to detect the breach of the woman passing in the other direction. Consequently, he did not call in ground troops to investigate and dismissed the alert caused by a sensor along the border fence, according to The Times of Israel.

The military added that although the soldiers on duty will not be punished, the incident will be studied in order to prevent a repeat of such a breach of the security fence in the future.

The woman, whose name was not released, was returned to Israel in a prisoner swap with Syria brokered by Russia.

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