Police officers on Tuesday night arrested four Israelis who crossed into Lebanese territory illegally.
The four were part of a group of about 30 Breslov hasidim who entered Lebanon at 3:00 a.m., for the purpose of reaching the gravesite of Rabbi Ashi, one of the "Amoraim" (sages who lived from 200 to 500 CE) and one of the compilers of the Babylonian Talmud.
Upon the IDF's arrival at the scene, a number of individuals in the group began to disrupt order and threw rocks at the forces.
Earlier this week, in a similar incident, the IDF brought at least 20 Breslov hasidim back into Israeli territory after they attempted to reach Rav Ashi's gravesite. It later became clear that the suspects did not just sneak into Lebanese territory, but also removed the barbed wire fence marking the border to transfer the entire grave site of Rabbi Ashi to Israeli territory.
The compound, which houses the tomb of Rabbi Ashi, has been divided by the border since the IDF's withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000.
According to historian Yisrael Shapira, over the past two weeks, the Hassidim have taken advantage of the ceasefire to renovate, clean, and paint the tomb and even move the border fence.
The Hassidim claim they are in advanced talks with the authorities to make the new situation official. Until now, entry into the Israeli side of the compound was only permitted with special coordination with the military.