Israeli naval commandos late Friday evening captured a top Hizbollah operative during a raid in the coastal city of Batroun in northern Lebanon.
Some 20 commandos from the navy’s elite Shayetet 13 unit, wearing Lebanese military uniforms, arrived in small boats and raided a residential building.
The entire operation lasted only four minutes.
The captured Hizbollah operative is believed to be a top leader in the terror group’s maritime force.
The raid stands as the deepest into Lebanese territory since Israel began its ground incursion into the country on 1 October.
The primary goal of the IDF ground incursion is the destruction of Hizbollah’s extensive tunnel system, weapons caches and other military infrastructure built along the border.
Israel would also like to force Hizbollah north of the Litani River, 18 miles from the border, creating a buffer zone for communities in northern Israel.
At present, four Israeli army divisions are operating in southern Lebanon, with tanks and troops engaging Hizbollah gunmen in Lebanese border villages.
Some 60,000 Israelis have been evacuated from northern communities since Hizbollah commenced cross-bored fire the day after Gaza-based Hamas staged its murderous incursion into southern Israel on 7 October 2023.
Though the IDF claims to have destroyed up to 80 percent of Hizbollah’s pre-war arsenal of 150,000 rockets, the group still maintains the ability to launch routine salvos at northern and central Israel.
Over 130 rockets and six drones were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory on Saturday.
Though Israeli helicopters successfully intercepted all of the drones, air defenses failed to intercept a rocket which struck a home in the central Israeli city of Tira, wounding 11 people.
Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes have continued to strike in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, a Hizbollah stronghold.
The air campaign has recently widened to include the coastal city of Tyre, the eastern city of Balbeek and southern Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley.
Personnel in Israel should remain south of Haifa. They should monitor developments closely, follow instructions from authorities, limit their circulation and stay close to bomb shelters.
This service long has advised against travel to Lebanon.
