By Amos Harel, Ha'aretz Correspondent, Ha'aretz Service and Agencies

The two men who tried to infiltrate the northern border into Israel might have been Syrian soldiers, the IDF said Wednesday afternoon. One of the men was killed in an exchange of fire and the second was captured by troops and is currently being questioned by the IDF and the Shin Bet security service.

The incident began when IDF troops from the Egoz Brigade on routine patrol at the point where the Israeli, Jordanian and Syrian borders meet spotted an unarmed man in civilian clothes west of the Rokad river, inside Israeli territory. As the soldiers approached, they came under fire at very close range from a second man hidden in nearby bushes.

The IDF soldiers returned fire, killed the gunman, whose weapon seems to have jammed. The first man struggled with the troops, but was overpowered and taken for questioning. The body of the second man was also removed from the scene.

During the incident, Syrian soldiers also opened fire on the IDF troops from across the border. The division commander, Brigadier General Avi Mizrahi, later said that because the Syrian fire was ineffective, the troops did not return fire in order to prevent the situatioon from being further inflamed. It is not clear whether there was a connection between the Syrian soldiers who fired over the border and the infiltrators.

The IDF emphasized that incident occurred inside Israeli territory in the southern Golan Heights, close to Kibbutz Metzer, after the infiltrators crossed the Rokad river, which, at this time of year, contains water.

The IDF views the incident as isolated and not as a second front on the Syrian border.

This is the first incident involving Syria for many years, although Palestinians try to infiltrate Israel from Syria every few months. Settlements in the area have been placed on alert, and large security forces have been sent to conduct searches.

-- Anonymous, January 08, 2003