Israeli tank tracks on a road in Quneitra province, July 4, 2025 (Credit: Emmanuel Haddad/L’Orient Today)
BEIRUT — The Israeli army said on Tuesday that an Israeli soldier lost a classified military phone, used for secure communication between troops, in an area under Israeli occupation in Syria, Haaretz reported.
The Israeli army claimed that any potential data leak from the phone can be prevented, adding that communications network can remain secure through a few simple measures.
According to Haarez, the soldier "did not secure the device as required and therefore did not notice that it had fallen from him during an operational activity." The report added that Syrian civilians found the device and posted images of it on social media.
"The incident is known and under investigation," the Israeli army said, adding that the matter is being handled by the relevant authorities.
After the ouster of Bashar al-Assad's regime by a coalition of Islamist rebels in December 2024, the Israeli army occupied part of Syrian territory. Israel is now calling for the demilitarization of the entire Syrian territory stretching from the south of Damascus to the demarcation line established after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.
In recent days, Israeli forces carried out further incursions in southern Syria, following tensions near the Golan Heights that forced residents to flee temporarily. The Israeli army said on Sunday that it had killed “several armed terrorists” the day before in the area of southern Syria.
