Daijiworld Media Network - Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Dec 26: A female Israeli Border Police officer was rescued by security forces after she illegally entered Yatta, a Palestinian village near Hebron in the West Bank, while wearing her uniform, Israeli media reports said.
According to reports, the officer entered the village on Thursday to visit her Palestinian boyfriend. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) later confirmed the incident, stating that security personnel were deployed to rescue her and that no injuries were reported.
Israeli public broadcaster KAN News reported that the officer, who serves in the West Bank, was picked up by a Palestinian vehicle, while Army Radio correspondent Doron Kadosh said she was collected near Kiryat Arba.
Security officials reportedly coordinated with Palestinian Authority officials to trace her whereabouts. Kadosh said the officer was later carried out on a stretcher by her boyfriend and handed over to Israeli security forces outside Yatta.
The military reiterated that entry into Area A is strictly prohibited and dangerous for Israeli civilians under Israeli law.
Rising Incidents
The IDF also said that earlier this week, it rushed forces to two separate locations in the West Bank to rescue Israelis who had mistakenly entered Area A.
One such incident occurred in the Arab village of Ni’lin near Ramallah, where an Israeli civilian drove into the area. After a search operation, IDF forces located and safely extracted the individual.
Security sources have warned of a growing number of Israelis illegally entering Area A, describing such incidents as life-threatening, with the potential to trigger violence or lynching.
Officials said militant groups, including Hamas, are fuelling incitement in the region, while lone-actor attacks remain a concern. They stressed that every such incident carries the risk of escalating tensions, noting that several lynchings were narrowly prevented over the past year due to swift military intervention.
Investigations into the latest incident are ongoing.