Undercover Israeli Troops Detained by Palestinian Police
Army confirms that two members of elite Duvdevan unit 'delayed' by Palestinian police forces while on raid in Nablus, but were then returned to IDF.
Palestinian security forces detained - and then released - two members of an elite undercover Israeli army unit on a raid in the Palestinian city of Nablus.
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The soldiers and the Palestinian police officers scuffled for some time before they were returned to the army. Their gear and weapons, as well as the car they were driving in, was also returned.
According to Palestinians and the Israeli army, the undercover Duvdevan unit arrived at the Refida area of Nabul but was prevented from entering by Palestinian security forces. Two of the Israeli soldiers were then detained. They were then returned to the Israeli army with the efforts of civil administration.
The army said they were "delayed" for a check by Palestinian security forces. The two were members of the Israeli army's Arab-speaking counter-terrorism unit – an undercover group known as mistaravim in Hebrew.
The incident is unusual as rarely do members of the elite undercover unit get discovered while on mission. Soldiers do on occasion enter Palestinian towns by mistake and are then returned to the army, also with the coordination of the civil administration. However, this time, the soldiers were in Nablus on an operation, but were forced to end it and identify as soldiers once they were detained by the Palestinians.