Israel Says Elite Naval Commandos Abducted Hezbollah Operative

Israeli naval commandos, ferried by speedboats, captured a man Israel called a senior Hezbollah operative in a sea-and-land operation on Friday that marked the deepest known incursion yet by Israeli forces into Lebanese territory during this war.

An Israeli military official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military protocol, said the forces brought the man back to Israel for interrogation. The operation was carried out by an elite Israeli naval commando unit, Shayetet 13, which is akin to the U.S. Navy SEALs, the official added.

Most of Israel’s campaign has been limited to aerial bombardment of southern and eastern Lebanon, along with the area just south of Beirut, all strongholds of support for Iran-backed Hezbollah. Israeli ground troops, so far, have been known to operate only in the south.

The commandos landed early Friday along the Mediterranean coastline in Batroun, a city about 20 miles north of the capital, Beirut, according to Lebanon’s state-run news agency. They abducted the man, identified by Lebanese officials as a ship captain named Imad Ahmaz, from a nearby residential building before leaving by speedboats, the agency reported.

Lebanese media circulated CCTV footage on Saturday showing an individual being led away by more than a dozen armed men.

Hussen Dilbani and his wife, Rania, who lived next door in the building, said they had decided to leave the apartment after the raid, having already been displaced twice before, from southern Lebanon and then Beirut. They said they did not know whether their neighbor was a member of Hezbollah.