Israeli forces capture Hezbollah officials in northern Lebanon, Israeli army chief says

Smoke billows from an Israeli airstrip in Dahiyeh, a suburb south of Beirut, Lebanon, early Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) | Photo Credit: AP

Israel’s navy has captured Hezbollah officials in northern Lebanon, an Israeli military official said Saturday, as the conflict between the Iran-backed group and Israel shows signs of easing.

Earlier on Saturday, Lebanese authorities said they were still investigating whether Israel was responsible for the kidnapping of a Lebanese sea captain who was taken by a group of armed men on the beach near the northern town of Batroun on Friday.

“The employee has been transferred to Israeli territory and is currently under investigation,” the military official said, without giving the name of the person arrested.

This plan is the first time that Israel has announced that it has deployed troops in northern Lebanon to capture the Hezbollah group since the conflict between the two sides escalated in late September. Since then, Israeli forces have launched ground attacks in southern Lebanon and intensified airstrikes throughout the country, including southern Beirut and the eastern Bekaa valley, killing most of Hezbollah’s top commanders.

Hezbollah released a statement describing what happened as “Zionist violence in the Batroun area.” The statement did not provide details or confirm that the Hezbollah member was captured by Israel.

Two Lebanese military officials confirmed that The Associated Press that the navy landed in Batroun, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of Beirut, and captured a Lebanese citizen. He did not identify the man or say whether he is believed to have links to the Lebanese group Hezbollah. They did not confirm that the armed men were Israeli soldiers.

Three Lebanese judicial officials told the AP that the operation took place in the early hours of Friday, adding that the captain may have ties to Hezbollah. The officials said that the investigation is looking into whether the man is related to Hezbollah or if he is working for an Israeli spy organization and the Israeli army came to rescue him.

Both military and judicial officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal details about the incident or the ongoing investigation.

Shortly after Israel went public about the plan, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati asked the Lebanese foreign minister to lodge a complaint against Israel with the UN Security Council.

Israel has carried out previous commando operations deep into Lebanon to capture or kill Hezbollah and Palestinian officials.

Narrating the event, the Lebanese residents who live in the apartment where the man was arrested said that the armed group introduced themselves as state security.

“We were scared. They were breaking into the apartment next to ours,” said Hussein Delbani to the Associated Press near where the man was kidnapped. “I thought the government agency was doing a security operation,” said Delbani, who was forced out of southern Lebanon last month when Israel’s war with Hezbollah broke out.

He said he saw from his balcony people down on the beach and they shouted for him to come inside.

Hamie told Al-Jadeed that the man was the captain of a human vessel. He graduated in 2022 and in late September joined Batroun’s Maritime Sciences and Technology Institute for further studies. Hamie said the man lives 300 meters (980 feet) from the center.

He said this after two Lebanese journalists posted a video on social media showing what appears to be about 20 armed men taking a man in front of a house, his face covered with a shirt.

Kandice Ardiel, the spokeswoman for the UN peacekeeping force deployed in southern Lebanon, denied allegations by local journalists that the peacekeepers helped the army that was on the ground in the operation. The UN mission, known as UNIFIL, has a navy that patrols the coast.

“Disinformation and false rumors are irresponsible and put peacekeepers at risk,” Ardiel said.

Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones and missiles from Lebanon into Israel in coordination with Hamas immediately after the Hamas-led offensive on Oct. 7, 2023, in Israel, which led to the war in Gaza. The year-long war reached full scale on Oct. 1, when Israeli forces attacked southern Lebanon for the first time since 2006.