Israeli commandos nab top Hezbollah naval operative in north Lebanon raid
Lebanese minister argues Imad Amhaz is captain of civilian ships; military says he was taken to Israel for questioning on terror group’s naval operations
Israeli naval commandos captured a Hezbollah official in a raid in northern Lebanon late Friday, the military confirmed on Saturday night, marking an unusual operation both in its nature and location deep inside the country.
Lebanese media reported that Israeli special forces arrived from the sea and raided a chalet on the coast of Batroun, south of Tripoli, and took one person with them before leaving the area in speedboats.
The raid took place some 140 kilometers (87 miles) north of Israel’s maritime border with Lebanon.
The Israel Defense Forces later confirmed that the Navy’s Shayetet 13 commando unit had carried out the operation.
The Hezbollah operative, named in media reports as Imad Amhaz, was considered by the IDF to be a “significant source of knowledge” in the terror group’s naval force.
He was taken to Israel to be questioned by the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504 — which specializes in HUMINT, or human intelligence — on Hezbollah’s naval operations.
Speaking to the local Al Jadeed News station, Ali Hamie, Lebanon’s Minister of Public Works and Transport, claimed that Amhaz was a captain of civilian ships and was studying at a civilian naval institute. Images posted to social media showed Amhaz in what appeared to be a navy uniform.
While the IDF has attacked northern Lebanon via airstrikes, its ground forces have been operating in the country’s south, making the raid noteworthy.
Lebanese journalist Hasan Illaik, who first reported on the raid, cited anonymous Lebanese military officials as saying the operation was apparently carried out in coordination with the German Navy operating within UNIFIL forces, to prevent the Lebanese Navy from interfering.
UNIFIL, the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, denied involvement in the operation, with an unnamed deputy spokesperson telling the Saudi channel Asharq News that the organization “has no involvement in facilitating any kidnapping or any other violation of Lebanese sovereignty.”
The spokesman added that the dissemination of “misleading information and unfounded rumors is irresponsible and puts peacekeeping forces at risk,” according to Asharq.
Meanwhile, the IDF said Saturday it estimates that some 2,000 Hezbollah operatives have been killed by ground troops and in airstrikes since the start of the ground offensive in southern Lebanon a month ago.
Since the start of the conflict with Hezbollah on October 8, 2023 a day after Hamas launched its terror onslaught, nearly 3,000 Hezbollah members have been killed, according to IDF assessments.
The Israel Air Force continued to pound Lebanon on Friday, with the IDF releasing footage of fighter jets striking Hezbollah rocket launchers used earlier in the day in a barrage on central Israel.
Three rockets were launched in the Hezbollah attack, one of which struck a home in Tira, wounding 11 people.
Later in the day, a barrage of some 30 rockets was fired from Lebanon at the Galilee, with the IDF saying most of the rockets were shot down by air defenses. There were no reports of injuries from the attack.
Lebanese media later reported an Israeli airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold known as Dahiyeh, but there was no immediate comment from the IDF on the matter.
Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.
Some 60,000 residents were evacuated from northern towns on the Lebanon border shortly after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, amid fears Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack, and increasing rocket fire by the terror group.
After warning for nearly a year that it would not tolerate the ongoing attacks, Israel launched a major operation against Hezbollah in September, decimating much of its leadership and crippling some of its fighting capabilities. In October, it launched a ground offensive in Lebanon’s south to clear the border area of terror infrastructure it said was to be used in an October 7-style attack on northern communities.
The attacks on northern Israel since October 2023 have resulted in the deaths of 39 civilians. In addition, 61 IDF soldiers and reservists have died in cross-border skirmishes and in the ensuing ground operation launched in southern Lebanon in late September. Two soldiers have been killed in a drone attack from Iraq, and there have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
The IDF estimates that more than 2,000 Hezbollah operatives have been killed in the conflict. Around 100 members of other terror groups, along with hundreds of civilians, have also been reported killed in Lebanon. Hezbollah has named 516 members who have been killed by Israel amid the fighting, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. These numbers have not been consistently updated since Israel began a new offensive against Hezbollah in September.
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