A 29-year-old man from the northern village of Zarzir is suspected of impersonating an intelligence officer from the IDF’s Unit 504 and crossing into Syria through the Quneitra crossing, police said Thursday.
Unit 504 is an Israeli military intelligence unit responsible for gathering human intelligence (HUMINT), handling informants and interrogating captured enemy combatants — a role that makes impersonation particularly sensitive.
The man was arrested on suspicion of infiltration, impersonating another person to deceive, obstructing a public servant and exiting Israel not through an official border crossing. A court extended his detention by two days on Wednesday.
According to Judge Dunya Nassar, vice president of the Northern Magistrates’ Courts, the investigation file shows the suspect approached an IDF post at the Quneitra crossing, told the soldier on duty he was from Unit 504 and demanded that the gate be opened urgently because “they’re waiting for me inside.”
“The guard opened the gate and the suspect entered Syrian territory,” Nassar wrote. She added that after reviewing the evidence and hearing arguments from both sides, she was convinced there was reasonable suspicion the suspect committed the offenses listed in the detention request.
Chief Inspector Shadi Abd al-Haq, head of the investigations unit in the Golan police district, said officers reached the base immediately after receiving the report and arrested the suspect. “We are investigating why he crossed into Syria and what his intentions were,” he said.
Attorney Nechemia Barak of the Public Defender’s Office, who represents the suspect, appealed the detention extension to the Nazareth District Court. With both sides’ agreement, Judge Sa’ab Dabor deleted the appeal and left the detention order in place until Friday.
Barak argued the alleged offenses do not justify detention and that his client did not deliberately impersonate an officer, saying he merely gave incorrect details at the checkpoint. “No one checked them, and they let him through,” he wrote. “This is a case of reverse infiltration. He did not try to enter Israel from Syria — he tried to leave for Syria because of his mental state. He did not interfere with anyone.”