IDF confirms Israeli held in Jordan after sea crossing from Israel

Update, 15 November, 17:07 Israel time

The Israeli military has now publicly confirmed the case for the first time. In a statement, the IDF spokesperson said that a report came in on Saturday about an Israeli civilian who had gone by sea from Israeli territory into Jordan's waters, and that Jordanian security forces were holding him. According to the IDF, Israeli security bodies have been working through the appropriate channels since then to bring him home safely.

The IDF statement also carried a warning. N12 reported the military's reminder that entering Jordan anywhere other than at an official crossing is forbidden, puts Israelis at risk and breaks the law.

The IDF account does not settle the points on which earlier reports disagreed. It does not say whether the man swam or used a paddleboard, does not name the body of water, and does not address whether the crossing was deliberate. It also gives no name, no age and no timeline for his return.

Separately, Times of Israel military correspondent Emanuel Fabian again relayed the Jordanian military's version, which describes an attempt to swim into the kingdom and places the incident in the Gulf of Eilat/Aqaba, part of the Red Sea.

The story as first reported

Jordan's armed forces say their navy detained a person who entered Jordanian territorial waters from the Israeli side of the border. The Times of Israel reported that a Jordanian statement, citing a military source, said the Royal Jordanian Navy spotted the individual on Saturday "attempting to infiltrate from the Israeli side" by swimming, then apprehended him at sea and "transferred him to the relevant authorities."

Israeli outlets identified the detainee as an Israeli. N12 reported that the man is now being questioned by Jordanian security officials, that he was caught the day before crossing the maritime boundary in the Gulf of Eilat on a stand-up paddleboard, and that efforts are being made in Israel to have him released. News.co.il reported that he set out from the beaches of Eilat and either drifted or crossed into Jordanian territory, and that Israeli diplomatic and security officials are working with the Jordanian authorities to secure his swift release and return.

Swimming or paddleboarding

The accounts differ on how the man reached Jordanian waters. The Jordanian military's statement, as carried by Ynet, N12 and The Times of Israel, describes a person crossing by swimming. The Israeli reports from N12 and News.co.il instead say he was on a stand-up paddleboard, often called a SUP. News.co.il also raised the possibility that he drifted across rather than crossed deliberately, and said the circumstances were still being examined. The Jordanian statement uses the language of infiltration; the Israeli reports do not say whether the crossing was intentional.

Where it happened

Most reports place the incident in the Gulf of Eilat, which Jordan calls the Gulf of Aqaba. This is the narrow northern tip of the Red Sea, where Israel's southernmost city, Eilat, sits alongside the Jordanian port city of Aqaba. The two cities face each other across a short stretch of water, and the maritime boundary between them runs close to popular beaches on both sides.

One report places the event elsewhere. The Jerusalem Post reported that the detainee had been trying to swim across the Dead Sea into Jordan. The Dead Sea lies far to the north of Eilat, on a different section of the Israel-Jordan border. The other reports, including the account of the Jordanian statement in The Times of Israel, refer to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Eilat/Aqaba.

The Israel-Jordan border

Israel and Jordan have had a peace treaty for decades and share a long land and water frontier running from the Sea of Galilee region in the north through the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea down to the Red Sea coast. Crossings outside official points are treated as security matters by both countries, and incidents are reported on both sides of the line.

On the same day, Ynet reported a separate incident in the other direction: Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops stopped an attempt by 6 migrant workers from Turkey and Sri Lanka to cross from Jordan into Israel in the Dead Sea area using rubber boats. The reports do not link the two events.

Who said what

The core account of the detention comes from the Jordanian military, quoted in Hebrew by N12 correspondent Sapir Lipkin and by Ynet, and in English by The Times of Israel. The detail about the paddleboard, the questioning in Jordan and Israeli efforts to secure a release comes from Israeli outlets, N12 and News.co.il, and is not attributed by them to a named official. The Times of Israel noted that Israeli authorities had not yet commented when it published.

What the reports do not say

• None of the reports names the detainee or gives his age.
• No Israeli government ministry or the IDF has issued a public statement on the case in the material reported.
• The reports do not say whether the man faces charges in Jordan or when he might be returned.
• Whether he crossed deliberately or drifted remains unresolved, and the accounts disagree on whether he swam or used a paddleboard and, in one case, on which body of water was involved.