In an extraordinary operation on Saturday morning, Israeli commandos landed on the shores of Batroun, northern Lebanon, seized a person they claimed was a top Hezbollah official, and then fled by speedboat.

An Israeli military spokesman stated in a statement that its troops had apprehended a “senior operative of Hezbollah” and taken him to its territory for military intelligence investigation. According to Israeli officials quoted by the media site Axios, Hezbollah’s maritime activities were carried out by the apprehended individual, Imad Amhaz.

Hezbollah did not respond to claims that Amhaz was a member of the group, while Ali Hamie, Lebanon’s acting minister of transportation, stated that Amhaz was a civilian boat captain. Najib Mikati, the interim prime minister of Lebanon, stated that he had requested that the UN peacekeeping force and Lebanon’s military look into the event and that Lebanon will file a protest with the UN security council.

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With Israeli forces landing in north Lebanon, a region unconnected with Hezbollah and about 100 miles from the border between Israel and Lebanon, the Israeli naval attack was the first of its sort.

After conducting a landing operation on Batroun’s beach, an unidentified military unit abducted Imad Amhaz from a nearby chalet and fled to the open sea on speedboats, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.

A man with his wrists trapped behind his back was being led by a column of troops, according to surveillance footage captured during the event.

In a statement, an Israeli military official declared, “The IDF [Israel Defence Forces] will continue to act wherever necessary to protect the state of Israel and its citizens.”

The kidnapping of the Amhaz may violate UN resolution 1701, which is meant to regulate security relations between Israel and Lebanon during the 2006 war, according to Ali Hamieh, the minister of transportation for Lebanon.

The kidnapping of Amhaz happened a hundred meters from his home. Where does resolution 1701 become put into practice if it is shown that the kidnapping happened through a naval landing? “Hamieh said.”

North Lebanon has mostly been spared in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which began on October 8, 2023, when the terrorist organisation fired rockets at Israel “in solidarity” with Hamas’s strike the day before.

Since September 30, Israeli forces have begun conducting ground operations into south Lebanon, although only a few kilometres from the border. Israeli forces have previously used aerial bombardment to combat Hezbollah in non-border regions.

Israeli aeroplanes maintained their nationwide aerial assault on Saturday afternoon, unexpectedly striking Beirut’s southern neighbourhoods throughout the day, killing one person and wounding fifteen more. The Bekaa valley in Lebanon, the target of much of Israel’s bombardment in the previous week, was also hit.

Hezbollah launched drones and missiles on Saturday; in Tayibe, central Israel, a rocket wounded 19 people.

Over the past year, Israel and Hezbollah have engaged in combat that has resulted in 2,968 deaths and over 13,300 injuries, with the majority of those deaths and injuries occurring in the last five weeks.