Lebanese authorities launch investigation into suspected Israeli naval raid in Baytoun.
A group of armed men has abducted a mariner in northern Lebanon, prompting an investigation by Lebanese authorities into whether Israel was involved in the raid.
A man identified by Lebanese officials as Imad Amhaz was seized after a naval force landed in the town of Batroun around dawn on Friday.
CCTV camera footage shared online by Lebanese journalists appeared to show a group of armed men leading away a man whose shirt was over his head.
According to local media reports, more than 25 armed men landed in Batroun, about 50km (31 miles) north of Beirut, and seized the man before returning to their boats and leaving the area.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) said an “unidentified military force” carried out a “sea landing” on the shore of Batroun at dawn on Friday.
The force “went with all its weapons and equipment to a chalet near the beach, kidnapping a Lebanese man… and sailing away into the open sea on a speedboat,” the NNA said.
Reporting from Batroun, Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan said the raid was “unprecedented”.
“This is northern Lebanon; this is not the southern suburbs or the border parts where we have seen Israeli troops on the ground. This is an unprecedented raid,” he said.
“This is a very serious incident. We haven’t seen an extraction or abduction like this for a very long time. This is something the Lebanese authorities will be taking seriously. They are already on the ground here.”
Israeli journalist Barak Ravid cited an unnamed Israeli source as claiming Amhaz is allegedly a senior member of Hezbollah’s naval force.
The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah issued a statement describing the incident as a “Zionist aggression in the Batroun area.”
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called for an investigation into the kidnapping, a statement from Mikati’s office on Saturday said.
Mikati consulted the with Lebanese military and UNIFIL officials and called for Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib to file an urgent complaint with the UN Security Council, the statement added.
Lebanon’s Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamieh quoted the country’s state-run National News Agency as saying Ahmaz was a civilian naval officer.
He said the man was abducted just 100 metres (328 feet) from his home and questioned why UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which was intended to resolve a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, was not being implemented.
“There is communication with UNIFIL because the Lebanese coast is monitored by it. UNIFIL’s mission is to monitor the Lebanese coast periodically from Naqoura to Arida,” Hamieh said about the UN peacekeeping force – which Israel has repeatedly attacked in recent weeks.
Kandice Ardiel, a spokesperson for the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, denied allegations by some local journalists who said that UN forces helped the landing force in the operation.
“Disinformation and false rumours are irresponsible and put peacekeepers at risk,” Ardiel said.
The rare night-time raid in northern Lebanon comes as the Israeli military continues to bombard areas across the country.
Air attacks on Saturday afternoon hit parts of Nabatieh, the Bekaa Valley, and the ancient cities of Tyre and Baalbek.
Hezbollah continued to fire rockets and drones into Israel. Israeli media reported a rocket injured 19 people in Tayibe in central Israel on Saturday.