Roula Khalaf, the Editor of the Financial Times, compiles her preferred stories in a weekly newsletter titled the “Editor’s Digest.”
On a recent Saturday, Israeli naval commandos conducted a naval operation in northern Lebanon, capturing an individual they identified as a “senior operative” of the Lebanese militant group Hizbollah in the coastal town of Batroun. The operation was carried out by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) “Shayetet 13” unit, analogous to the US Navy Seals. The IDF reported that the unnamed man, referred to as “an expert in his field,” was transported to Israeli territory and was being interrogated.
This announcement from the IDF followed the release of closed-circuit video footage from Lebanon allegedly depicting the detained individual—handcuffed and with a shirt covering his head—surrounded by a large group of uniformed soldiers and civilians. Lebanese officials stated they were investigating the disappearance of a sea captain, identified by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati as Imad Amhaz.
Transport Minister Ali Hamieh mentioned that Amhaz is a captain of civilian and commercial vessels, having graduated in 2022. He had been undertaking further courses at the Maritime Sciences and Technology Institute in Batroun since September, leasing an apartment nearby, according to Hamieh’s statement to Lebanon’s Al-Jadeed television.
Hizbollah described the incident as “Zionist aggression in the Batroun area” but provided no additional details and did not confirm whether one of their members had been captured by Israel. Israeli media speculated that the individual might be a senior commander in Hizbollah’s naval unit. Military analysts suggested that the IDF would not have undertaken such a hazardous mission without targeting a “high-value” individual.
The commando operation in Batroun, a predominantly Christian beach town approximately 50 kilometers north of Beirut, marked the first such operation in Lebanon since conflicts with Hizbollah resumed over a year ago. The militant group Hizbollah began targeting northern Israel after Hamas launched an attack from Gaza on October 7 of the previous year, setting off months of cross-border exchanges between the adversaries.
The conflict escalated in late September when Israel initiated multiple airstrikes across Lebanon, which resulted in the death of Hizbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and began a ground invasion of southern Lebanon. The ongoing skirmishes have displaced an estimated one million Lebanese and resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people, primarily in recent weeks. Nearly 100 Israeli civilians and soldiers have perished due to Hizbollah’s actions in northern Israel and the ground operations in southern Lebanon.
Israeli authorities assert their objective is to push Hizbollah away from the border region between Israel and Lebanon and to ensure the safe return of approximately 60,000 residents of northern Israel who have been displaced due to rocket, missile, and drone attacks by the Iran-supported group. The IDF’s ground offensive has thus far progressed several kilometers into Lebanon, focusing on what Israeli military officials describe as the “first belt” of Lebanese border villages.
In the preceding month, the IDF claimed to have captured an unspecified number of Hizbollah fighters who surrendered on the battlefield.
