West Asia crisis: Israel captures senior Hezbollah operative in North Lebanon

An Israeli military official said on Saturday (Nov 2) that the navy captured a senior Hezbollah operative in North Lebanon. Speaking to the news agency Associated Press, the official said the Hezbollah operative had been transferred to Israeli territory and was being investigated.

The identity of the operative of the Iran-aligned Lebanese militant group was not known. As per the Associated Press report, the operative was captured on Friday.

Reactions from Lebanon and Hezbollah

On Saturday, Lebanese authorities said that they were investigating whether Israel was behind the capture of a Lebanesesea captain who was taken away by a group of armed men who had landed on the coast near the northern town of Batroun on Friday.

Hezbollah issued a statement describing what happened as a “Zionist aggression in the Batroun area.” The statement did not give details or confirm whether a Hezbollah member was captured.

Neither the Lebanese military nor Hezbollah revealed the man's identity or confirmed whether the armed men who captured him were Israeli forces.

Three Lebanese judicial officials told the Associated Press that the captured man might have links with Hezbollah.The officials said an investigation was looking into whether the man was linked to Hezbollah or working for an Israeli spy agency and an Israeli force came to rescue him.

Lebanese govt to file complaint against Israel at UNSC

Friday's capture marked the first time Israel announced that it deployed troops deep into North Lebanonto take a senior Hezbollah operative captive since the conflict between the two sides escalated in late September.

Soon after Israel went public about the operation,Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on Lebanon’s foreign minister to file a complaint against Israel at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

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Recounting the incident,Lebanese residents from the apartment building where the man was captured said that the armed group introduced themselves as state security.

“We were terrified. They were breaking into the apartment next to ours. I thought a state agency was doing a security operation,” a resident told the news agency.

Earlier, Lebanese mediaposted a video on social media showing what appeared to be about 20 armed men taking away a man from in front of a house, his face covered with his shirt.

(With inputs from agencies)