Israel captures senior Hezbollah operative in northern Lebanon – Firstpost

Israeli naval forces captured a senior Hezbollah operative in northern Lebanon, an Israeli military official said on Saturday.

“The operative has been transferred to Israeli territory and is currently being investigated,” the military official said, without providing the name of the person in detention.

Lebanese authorities announced an investigation into whether Israel was involved in the abduction of a Lebanese sea captain earlier today, who was taken by armed men who landed on the coast near the northern town of Batroun on Friday.

Two Lebanese military officials confirmed to the Associated Press that a naval force landed in Batroun, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of Beirut, and abducted a Lebanese citizen. Neither gave the man’s identity or said whether he was thought to have links to Lebanon’s Hezbollah group. They did not confirm whether the armed men were an Israeli force.

Speaking to Lebanon’s Al-Jadeed TV, Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamie declined to go into details or answer questions about whether it was thought to be an Israeli operation.

Three Lebanese judicial officials told AP the incident occurred at dawn Friday, adding that the captain might have links with Hezbollah. The officials said an investigation is looking into the man is linked to Hezbollah or working for an Israeli spy agency and an Israeli force came to rescue him.

Both the military and judicial officials spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were unauthorized to share details about the incident or the ongoing investigation.

Hezbollah issued a statement calling what happened a “Zionist aggression in the Batroun area.” The statement did not give details or confirm whether one of Hezbollah’s members was captured by Israel.

Meanwhile, Israel’s military announced updates to its Home Front Command’s defensive guidelines on Saturday, raising the alert level in the Lower Galilee and southern Golan regions from “partial” to “full”.

It also eased restrictions in its precautionary guidelines to the public by allowing gatherings of up to 2,000 people in some communities.

The changes follow ongoing hostilities with Hezbollah in Lebanon, which shares its southern border with Israel and has exchanged fire with Israeli forces since October 2023.

With inputs from agencies.