Tel Aviv [Israel], July 31 (ANI/TPS): Two young men from northern Israel have been indicted for illegally crossing into Syria and smuggling a Kalashnikov rifle back into the country, police announced Thursday.
The suspects, aged 18 and 20, are residents of the Druze villages of Kisra and Beit Jann. According to police, they crossed the border into Syria on the night of July 16. Upon returning the next day, they were apprehended in a coordinated operation by police and army units.
During a search, authorities found a Kalashnikov rifle and magazine concealed in their belongings. Further investigation uncovered photos on one of the suspects' phones showing them posing with the weapon on Syrian soil.
Police said the two would be charged in the Nazareth District Court with illegally entering an enemy country and attempting to smuggle weapons into Israel. Prosecutors also filed a request to keep them in custody until the end of legal proceedings.
"This case highlights the dangers of illegal border crossings and the trafficking of weapons from hostile territories," a police spokeswoman said. "We will continue to act decisively to protect the security of Israeli citizens."
Hundreds of Israeli Druze entered Syria following the massacre of their brethren in southern Syria. The Israeli Druze community has also launched a grassroots campaign to collect and deliver humanitarian aid.
More than 1,100 people were killed in ethnic clashes between the Syrian Druze and Sunni Bedouins. Government forces loyal to interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa sided with the Bedouins. An estimated 100,000 were displaced by the violence. Israel launched airstrikes on Syrian forces and threatened escalation before a fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire took hold. But there have been violations.
Israeli and Syrian officials are reportedly due to meet in Azerbaijan on Thursday in a bid to lower tensions.
Around 40,000 Druze live in the southern Syrian provinces of Quneitra, Da'ara and Sweida under Israeli protection. Netanyahu has called for the demilitarisation of southern Syria.
The Druze trace their ancestry back to the Biblical figure Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. They speak Arabic but are not Muslim. In Israel, the Druze serve in senior positions in public and military life.
The Druze living in the Galilee and Mount Carmel areas sided with the Jews in 1948 during Israel's War of Independence, opted to be part of Israeli society and established themselves in all areas of public life. When Israel captured the Golan Heights during the Six-Day War of 1967, the Druze there refused Israeli offers of citizenship, believing Syria would recapture the plateau. But attitudes have changed since the Syrian Civil War broke out in 2011.
Israel sent forces into the 235 sq km buffer zone to prevent Syrian rebels from approaching the border when the regime of Bashar Assad collapsed in December.
Israel considers the 1974 ceasefire agreement void until order is restored in Syria. (ANI/TPS)