An IDF soldier lost a classified military communications device over the weekend while taking part in an operational mission in the sensitive buffer zone along the Syrian border, Channel 12 reported.

Syrian media outlets, including the state-run SANA news agency, aired footage on Monday showing the device—a Samsung XCover Pro 6 with stickers bearing Hebrew lettering affixed to its back.

According to the report, the phone is a secure communications device of significant operational importance. It uses encrypted technology and is employed by IDF ground forces and intelligence units during combat and routine operations to coordinate troop movements, transmit operational reports, and provide real-time situational awareness. Officials consider the potential security risk of such a device falling into hostile hands to be particularly serious.

After it became clear that the device had been lost and found by local Syrians, the IDF was forced to carry out an extensive emergency security response, including changing security codes, updating software, and replacing encryption keys on numerous similar devices used by combat forces across all operational sectors.

 

In a statement to Channel 12 News, the IDF said: “The incident is known and is under investigation. The matter is being handled by the relevant authorities.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)