The soldier had been sentenced to 18 months in prison on weapons charges.

By JNS

An Israel Defense Forces reservist was released from detention in Thailand after spending eight months in custody following his arrest during his honeymoon, the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem said on Saturday.

The reservist and his wife, who is also an IDF officer, traveled to the Thai island of Phuket in November for a weeklong honeymoon after serving hundreds of days in reserve duty, Ynet reported.

Before departing Israel, A. borrowed a travel bag from a fellow reservist, unaware that a loaded magazine had been left inside.

The bullets were not detected during security screening at Ben-Gurion International Airport but were discovered by Thai authorities upon the couple’s arrival.

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke yesterday (Friday) with reservist fighter A. and his family following his release from prolonged detention during his honeymoon in Thailand with his wife M.,” the PMO said in a statement.

Netanyahu congratulated the couple on their return to Israel, thanked them for their service and said the government would continue working on behalf of its citizens around the world.

The prime minister also praised Gal Hirsch, his coordinator for hostages and missing persons, for leading efforts to secure the soldier’s release and thanked President Isaac Herzog, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and security officials involved in the case.

The couple and their family thanked the premier for helping secure A.’s release.

“Thank you for doing everything possible to bring us back. It is heartwarming. Thank you for not leaving us behind,” they told Netanyahu, according to the PMO.

A. had been sentenced to 18 months in prison on weapons charges, according to Ynet.

Following intervention by Israeli authorities, he was transferred to house arrest under electronic monitoring while his appeal was pending.

After the appeal stretched on for months, Netanyahu directed Hirsch to become personally involved and use his contacts in Thailand to help secure the reservist’s release.

Hirsch developed those contacts while helping secure the release of dozens of Thai nationals taken hostage during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, Ynet reported.

The post IDF reservist freed after eight months in Thai detention appeared first on World Israel News.

A terrorist fired at Israeli forces from the vicinity of a church while troops were operating in southern Lebanon.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Maj. (res.) Itamar Sapir, 27, from the settlement of Eli, was killed during fighting in southern Lebanon, the IDF announced Tuesday.

Sapir served as deputy company commander in Battalion 7008 of the 551st “Arrows of Fire” Brigade and is survived by his wife, Roi, and their one-and-a-half-year-old son, Maayan.

His funeral is scheduled for Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the military cemetery in Ra’anana and will be open to the media.

According to the information released, a terrorist fired at Israeli forces from the vicinity of a church while troops were operating outside the compound in the Khouza area of southern Lebanon.

Sapir was killed in the attack. Following the shooting, Israeli forces carried out strikes on several infrastructure targets in the area and continued operations aimed at locating the assailant.

The Binyamin Regional Council announced Sapir’s death in a statement, saying: “It is with deep sorrow that we announce the death in battle in southern Lebanon of Maj. (res.) Itamar Sapir, of blessed memory, son of Yehuda and Rivki Sapir, residents of Eli.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also issued a statement mourning Sapir. “We received with great pain the news of the fall of Maj. (res.) Itamar Sapir, a resident of Eli, who fell in battle in southern Lebanon,” Netanyahu said.

He described Sapir as “a courageous commander who fought bravely against Hezbollah terrorists in order to defend our northern border.” Netanyahu added that Israel sends “deep condolences to his family and embraces them in this difficult hour.”

The city of Ariel also paid tribute to Sapir, with Mayor Yair Chetboun and members of the city council describing themselves as “pained, shocked and deeply mourning” the death of the resident they called “a hero of Israel.”

The municipality said Sapir had been studying electrical engineering at a university and “sacrificed his life and fell in a heroic battle in southern Lebanon while fulfilling his duty in defense of the security of the State of Israel and its residents.”

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