Israel's public broadcaster Kan reported on Monday that the Israeli army nearly opened fire on five Israeli right-wing activists near the Syrian border two weeks ago, after suspecting they were forming a 'terrorist' cell trying to infiltrate Israel.

The five individuals were members of the 'HaBashan Pioneers' settlement movement.

Kan reported that after spotting the group via military surveillance systems near Mount Hermon (Mount Hermon), drones of the type 'Elbit Hermes 450' (known as 'Zik') were quickly directed to carry out an airstrike.

Just before launching the attack, observers noticed that the group members were wearing dangling side locks, 'indicating that they were religious Jews and not infiltrating terrorists,' according to the statement cited by the Hebrew newspaper Jerusalem Post.

Movements of the Israeli army on the separation line in the Golan (archive - Reuters)

The reason for the group's presence there is that the 'HaBashan Pioneers' movement has called for establishing Jewish settlements in Syrian territory, and several groups of activists have been arrested in recent weeks for trying to cross the border.

Channel Kan quoted the Israeli army as confirming the incident, saying: 'The Israeli army strongly condemns this incident... and emphasizes that crossing the border into Syria is a criminal offense that endangers life.' The 'HaBashan Pioneers' movement announced that the five men were targeted by live fire, before confirming its determination to continue attempts to establish Jewish settlements in Syria, despite the military intervention facing every such attempt.

The movement said: 'Last week, our activists entered and left the area three times without being noticed. The area is vast, and the army alone cannot control every point at every hour. We will not stop until a wonderful Jewish settlement is established in the Golan (Bashan) region.'

On July 5, about 100 activists from the group crossed to the Syrian side of Mount Hermon (Mount Hermon), where they were detained by the Israeli army. Although no incidents comparable to the near-shooting have been reported, the activists accused the army of using 'excessive violence' during their detention.

The most recent attempt to cross the border illegally occurred on July 13, when the suspects were detained in the Golan Heights before being transferred to the Israeli police for questioning.

Read also