At dawn on Friday, an Israeli Marine Forces unit carried out a one-off commando operation in Batroun, reportedly to kidnap Imad Fadel Amhaz, who is said to be a Lebanese naval cadet, but with links to Hezbollah, according to preliminary information.
The operation has been confirmed by security sources, but not officially. Mystery, however, still shrouds Amhaz affiliation. According to security sources, he is not a member of the army’s naval unit, but a civilian naval cadet-captain.
In fact, mystery still surrounds the entire operation, pending a statement from the army, which is conducting an investigation. At the beginning of the afternoon, very little information was available on the subject.
What is known is that the commando group of some twenty Israelis, had arrived on gunboats, according to the official National Information Agency, ANI. They headed to a seaside chalet and abducted an individual, before leaving again, ANI said, quoting Batroun residents, without disclosing the identity of the abducted man.
According to information relayed on social networks and picked up by Lebanese and pan-Arab media, a unit made up of around 25 soldiers landed in this coastal town in northern Lebanon to kidnap Amhaz.
Questioned on the subject, caretaker Minister of Transport, Ali Hamiyeh, neither denied nor confirmed this information, while a video is circulating on social networks, showing soldiers dragging a civilian with them, to an unspecified location. “We are awaiting confirmation from the army and security services”, he said.
Hezbollah has not commented on the matter either. Citing Hezbollah sources, Al-Hadath reported that the Iran-backed group had no cadres by the name of Imad Fadel Amhaz.
The Israeli media also picked up the story, citing al-Hadath. Only Yediot Aharonot quoted Israeli military sources. The Israeli army had not confirmed the operation either.
In the afternoon, UNIFIL was due to issue an official statement denying reports circulating in media close to Hezbollah that the German navy, which patrols Lebanese waters, had assisted the Israeli commando off the Lebanese coast. “At no time was UNIFIL involved in any kidnapping or other violation of Lebanese law,” said Candice Ardelle, deputy spokeswoman for the multinational force. She denounced “misleading and unfounded rumors and information that endanger the peacekeeping forces.”
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