The Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth revealed that the Israeli army lost a "secret military phone" during an operation in Daraa province, raising concerns about the leakage of sensitive information that was stored on the device.
According to the newspaper, the incident occurred in the village of Abdeen after clashes between Israeli forces and residents of the area, which began with gunfire at an Israeli military post in Tel Qadna, followed by artillery and mortar shelling, and then raids carried out by an attack helicopter, prompting many of the village’s residents to leave.
She explained that one of the reserve soldiers lost his phone during the chaos that accompanied the events, and it ended up in the hands of a Syrian resident.
The soldier told the newspaper that the army quickly realized the device was missing and remotely shut it down in an attempt to limit any information leaks, describing the incident as "serious".
The loss of the "military phone" in Syria has raised concerns for the Israeli army, which has expressed worry about information leaks from the "secret" device.
The Israeli army stated, without going into details of the measures taken to prevent information leaks from the device, that "the incident is known, is being investigated, and is being dealt with through the appropriate channels."
In contrast, Syrian channels published footage showing weapons and equipment, including the video of the missing phone, as well as food supplies that Israeli forces reportedly left behind in the Tel al-Maghar area west of Abdeen during their withdrawal.
Israeli forces clashed with residents in a village in southern Syria on Sunday night, causing Syrian residents to temporarily flee the area.
Israeli forces have been present in southern Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in December 2014, and Israel says it has no intention of withdrawing from the area.
