The Israeli raid on Batroun, Lebanon, has led to questions and accusations. On November 1, an invading commando force forcibly kidnapped a Lebanese commercial sea captain, who was attending a continuing education course at the Marsati Institute for Marine Sciences in Batroun, about 30 kilometers north of Beirut.
Imad Amhaz was described by the Israeli military as a "senior Hezbollah operative". But, Hezbollah stated they have never heard of him until the media reported his kidnapping, and deny any association with him.
Mahmoud Qomati, Deputy Chairman of the Political Council of Hezbollah, the Lebanese resistance organization, told OTV on Monday that Amhaz "was introduced to [Hezbollah] through the media" and he has no "organizational or military affiliation" with the party.
About 25 naval commandos from Shayetet 13, an elite naval squad, made landfall near the Batroun Marina, and told local residents they were Lebanese security forces before breaking down the door of the rented room Amhaz slept in.
The kidnapping was captured by video surveillance cameras as the commandos dragged Amhaz through the street. He is now in Israel and being interrogated by Unit 504, an intelligence branch of the Israeli army known for its brutality and methods of torture.
Batroun is a Christian village in a highly sectarian country. Experts on Lebanon have assumed that Israel fell for false accusations from their Christian associates in Lebanon. Batroun residents may have noticed Amhaz was renting a room in the Christian enclave, and realizing that he was a Shiite, they jumped to the conclusion he was connected to Hezbollah. With the current Israeli war on Hezbollah, everyone in Lebanon is frightened and ready to accuse each other on the grounds of religious and political affiliations.
In the period that Israel occupied the entire south of Lebanon from 1985 to 2000, there were Lebanese Christians of the Maronite sect who were aligned with Israel. They were the South Lebanon Army.
"My son has no affiliation with political parties, nor does he engage in politics," said Fadil Amhaz, the father of the kidnap victim Imad Amhaz.
Amhaz blamed the German UNIFIL force responsible for monitoring the Lebanese shores for his son's abduction. Amhaz called on the International Committee of the Red Cross and UNIFIL "to intervene with the abductors and return Imad safely to his family."
According to the Lebanese government, Amhaz is identified and known to be a civilian in good standing.
The Minister of Public Works and Transport, Ali Hamieh, described Amhaz as a civilian ship captain taking a course at a maritime institute in Batroun.
The Prime Minister of Lebanon, Najib Mikati, called the Israeli abduction of Amhaz a violation of Lebanon's sovereignty, and order his government to file a complaint to the UN Security Council.
The Interior Minister, Bassam Mawlawi, defended the role of the Lebanese Army in the incident, and said "Investigations are underway into what happened in Batroun."
Mawlawi described the abduction of a Lebanese citizen as a "violation and an act of war", and added, "The Lebanese State will issue direct questions to the command of the UNIFIL."
Joseph Aoun, Commander of the Lebanese Army, briefed Prime Minister Mikati concerning the internal investigation carried out by the Army Command regarding the kidnapping operation.
In a revealing text posted on X, Member of the Lebanese Parliament, Ghassan Hasbani, representing the Christian party known as Lebanese Forces, wrote: "The army is the guarantee of all Lebanese. The army was not the one who made the decision to... go to war, and it is not its role to provide protection for members in illegitimate security and military organizations, who chose to wage war from Lebanon. These members are responsible for their actions and the consequences, and this is what they took upon themselves without consulting anyone. The state is not la carte and sovereignty is not selective."
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