The Israeli military voiced frustration over yet another incursion into Syria by Jewish activists who believe in settling the region beyond Israel’s northeastern border. The latest violation was committed by a group of about 15 civilians, most of them teenage girls. One woman in the group brought her baby with her.

The IDF warned that these incidents divert precious military resources from crucial combat operations to search for and return the activists. In Tuesday’s incident, one girl remained missing for four hours as soldiers conducted a search to find her and bring her back. One official said that often reservists who are on a family vacation are pulled in to stop these illegal incursions. Sometimes, a combat operation has to be abandoned altogether as troops are diverted to the search.

Officials also said that these activists are unaware of the danger they face once they leave protected territory. An abduction, for example, could throw the country into chaos and inflame tensions in the region, which are already high.

“This is getting out of hand,” a military official said. “It directly draws attention away from missions.”

“You prepare a force for a mission, for a night in an ambush or to carry out an arrest, all to defend the border and protect residents,” he said. “Then an incident like this develops, and you are drawn into it for hours. The mission is delayed or does not happen. This is a real blow to security.”

“It happened while we were dealing with the explosive device incident in which two soldiers were killed and four were seriously wounded, and while preparing the IDF’s response plans to Hezbollah violations,” another official said. “In the middle of all that, we had to deal with dozens of young men and women trying to cross the border and damaging the fence.”

Another official described the behavior as “madness,” explaining the danger of possibly stepping on a mine or facing abduction.

The military and police blamed each other for the deteriorating situation at the border, with the IDF saying that police release detainees without any consequences and police saying it’s the military’s job to secure the border and ensure that no one crosses over.