An operation in Batroun by Israeli commandos has left Lebanon on edge as new particulars emerge concerning the seize of a reported Hezbollah naval unit commander, Imad Amhaz.
Right here’s a breakdown of what’s recognized to date. That is the place it befell:
At round 2:30-2:45 am, residents of the constructing hear motion, and a number of other look outdoors to see a gaggle of army. Then they hear “Return inside, State Safety (لأمن الدولة)” in good Lebanese repeated 3 occasions. They then heard a breach of a door earlier than Amhaz was taken away within the different path.
Your entire seize operation reportedly took solely 4 minutes and was executed by a workforce of round 20 Israeli commandos. Notably, two males in civilian garments had been with the workforce – unclear who.
The operation befell Thursday in a single day – two days earlier than information broke to the general public. Amhaz’s spouse reportedly alerted the police on Friday when she realized he wasn’t answering her calls.
Early studies about Amhaz’s position sparked confusion. Preliminary rumors advised he was related to the Lebanese navy or labored as a civilian ship captain. Nevertheless, the Lebanese Military confirmed to 961 Information that he wasn’t affiliated with them.
In accordance with Israeli sources to Axios, he’s now in Israel, the place he’s anticipated to face questioning about Hezbollah’s naval actions and capabilities.
Amhaz had solely rented the chalet in Batroun a month earlier than his seize. Safety forces looking the property discovered roughly 10 overseas SIM playing cards, 5 USBs, a burner cellphone, his Lebanese passport, in addition to a journey doc issued by the Panama Maritime Authority.
Among the many identifiable sim playing cards:
- 2x Telkom – South Africa
- Tigo – Colombia
- Claro – Latin America
- Vodafone – Europe
- Free – Senegal
- MTN – South Africa
- Three – the UK
A crew ID was discovered issued by Maritime Administration Providers (MMS), and a vessel named “Silver Soul” was assigned to him. The one vessel beneath that identify is a automobile service with a Panama flag that’s at the moment moored in Lagos, Nigeria after departing from Freeport, in Texas, USA on October seventeenth.
His household confirmed he would work on the automobile service and journey. They clarified as effectively the ten SIM playing cards had been collected and maintained by him to keep up a correspondence together with his household in any of the nations he visited. They deny he has something to do with Hezbollah. They mentioned he was working to get a license that might enable him to sail as much as 200m ships, which is analogous to Silver Soul.
Israel confirmed that their elite naval commandos, Shayetet 13, took him.
As seen within the Mission Cassandra, Hezbollah runs a large worldwide grand theft auto operation whereby they steal automobiles in Western nations earlier than illegally delivery them to Africa to promote. The funds are used as a further income stream for Hezbollah’s operations.
Shayetet 13 and Hezbollah’s Amphibious Warfare Unit
Shayetet 13 has a protracted historical past of working in Lebanon. It is likely one of the major reconnaissance items of the IDF. It focuses on sea-to-land incursions, counter-terrorism, sabotage, maritime intelligence gathering, maritime hostage rescue, and boarding.
Amongst their operations in Lebanon:
- Destroying Palestinian militia bases close to Sidon in 1971 and killing their commander Abu Youssef
- In 1973, they raided Palestinian camps Nahr al-Bared and Beddawi within the North.
- From 1979 to 1981, they carried out 22 raids towards Palestinian militias.
- In 1982, they assisted the IDF in its amphibious touchdown simply north of Sidon, carried out 3 raids on the PLO in Beirut, in addition to reportedly stopped ships smuggling weapons from Lebanon to Italy, together with on Yasser Arafat’s private boat.
- Within the Eighties, they closely engaged combated Hezbollah.
- In 1988, they raided the HQ of the Standard Entrance for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) to kill its chief however they failed, regardless of killing 20 militiamen and dropping an officer.
In the meantime, Hezbollah’s ‘Amphibious Warfare Unit’ is likely one of the most secretive of their items. It was established within the 90s. Their essential coaching happens close to the Assi River in Bekaa in addition to on the IRGC underwater fight college in Bandar Abbas, Iran. Their frogmen tried 2 operations together with an underwater sabotage try on Haifa port in 2006 however failed. They’re tasked with defending the shoreline in Lebanon and with the anti-ship missiles.
