BATROUN, Lebanon (AP) — Israeli naval forces have captured a senior Hezbollah operative in northern Lebanon, an Israeli military official said Saturday, as the conflict between the Iran-backed group and Israel showed little sign of easing.
Earlier on Saturday, Lebanese authorities said they were investigating whether Israel was behind the arrest of a Lebanese sea captain who was taken by a group of armed men who landed on the coast near the northern town of Batroun on Friday.
“The officer has been transferred to Israeli territory and is currently under investigation,” the military official said, without naming the person in custody.
The operation marks the first time Israel has announced that it has deployed troops deep into northern Lebanon to capture a senior Hezbollah operative since the conflict between the two sides escalated in late September. Since then, Israeli forces have launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon and intensified airstrikes across the country, including southern Beirut and the eastern Bekaa Valley, killing most of Hezbollah’s senior commanders.
Hezbollah issued a statement describing what happened as a “Zionist aggression in the Batroun area.” The statement provided no details and did not confirm whether any Hezbollah member was captured by Israel.
Two Lebanese military officials confirmed to The Associated Press that a naval force had landed in Batroun, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) north of Beirut, and kidnapped a Lebanese national. Neither of them revealed the man’s identity or whether there were any links to him The Lebanese Hezbollah group. They did not confirm whether the armed men were an Israeli force.
Three Lebanese judicial officials told AP that the operation took place at dawn on Friday, adding that the captain could have ties to Hezbollah. The officials said they were investigating whether the man had ties to Hezbollah or worked for an Israeli spy agency and that an Israeli force came to rescue him.
Both military and judicial officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to share details about the incident or the ongoing investigation.
Shortly after Israel made the operation public, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on the Lebanese Foreign Minister to file a complaint against Israel with the UN Security Council.
Israel has done this in the past commando operations deep in Lebanon to kidnap or assassinate Hezbollah and Palestinian officials.
Lebanese residents of the apartment complex where the man was arrested recounted the event, saying the armed group presented itself as state security.
“We were terrified. They broke into the apartment next to ours,” Hussein Delbani told The Associated Press, near where the man was arrested. “I thought a state agency was carrying out a security operation,” said Delbani, who was expelled from southern Lebanon a month ago when war broke out between Israel and Hezbollah.
He said he saw people on the seashore from his balcony and they shouted again for him to go inside.
Hamie told Al-Jadeed that the man was a captain of civilian ships. He graduated in 2022 and entered Batroun’s Maritime Sciences and Technology Institute for additional courses in late September. Hamie said the man lived about 300 meters from the institute.
Hamie’s comments came shortly after two Lebanese journalists posted a video on social media showing 20 armed men taking away a man in front of a house, his face covered by his shirt.
Kandice Ardiel, a spokesperson for the UN peacekeeping force deployed in southern Lebanon, denied allegations by some local journalists who said the peacekeepers helped the landing force in the operation. The UN mission, known as UNIFIL, has a maritime force that monitors the coast.
“Disinformation and false rumors are irresponsible and endanger peacekeepers,” Ardiel said.
Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones and missiles at Israel from Lebanon in solidarity with Hamas, immediately after the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza. Years of cross-border fighting culminated in full-blown war on October 1, when Israeli forces launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon for the first time since 2006.
Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Sally Abou Aljoud in Beirut and Natalie Melzer in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.