Police arrest Syrian infiltrator near Majdal Shams

Syrian was being driven to hospital, police say; Ayalon: We told neighboring countries to prevent infiltrations into Israel.

By YAAKOV LAPIN, JPOST.COM STAFF
Syrian Infiltrators 311 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Syrian Infiltrators 311
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Police arrested a Syrian infiltrator on Monday in Majdal Shams who illegally crossed into Israel during Sunday's border disturbances.
The infiltrator was in a taxi driven by a Palestinian man from east Jerusalem, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told The Jerusalem Post. The taxi driver has also been arrested. RELATED:Police break up violent demo near Lebanese borderPM on Nakba Day: We're determined to defend our bordersThe Syrian, 34, "was trying to make his way south. He had no papers on him. He was arrested at a police checkpoint in southern Majdal Shams, and is being questioned at a police station," Rosenfeld added.
The man was not armed, Rosenfeld said.
Police in Majdal Shams are conducting house to house searches looking for Syrian-Palestinian infiltrators, and have set up road blocks around the city.
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Earlier Monday, Israel sent messages to the governments of neighboring countries demanding that they prevent future events such as those that took place on the Syrian border Sunday in which protesters infiltrated the border, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon told Army Radio.
The security establishment was preparing Monday for another day of demonstrations throughout the country and West Bank following deadly clashes, demonstrations and border breaches on Sunday.
A general closure on the West Bank that was due to expire just before midnight Sunday was extended by Defense Minister Ehud Barak and IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz. The extended closure will end at 11:59 p.m. on Monday.
"Nakba Day" demonstrations continued throughout the night on Sunday in Jordan and Egypt with dozens injured.
Twenty-four people were injured in a protest that took place Sunday outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo, official Egyptian news agency MENA reported.
Egyptian police fired teargas to force back several hundred pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had broken through a barricade in front of the embassy, witnesses said.
Jordanian police forcibly dispersed protesters who approached the Allenby Bridge with the intention of crossing into Israel, Army Radio reported. Jordan denied reports that two demonstrators were shot dead by police.
In Syria, the ruling Baath party issued a statement saying, "the leadership of [Syrian President Bashar] Assad remains as committed as ever to restoring the rights of the Palestinian people," responding to Sunday's events in the Golan Heights.