By: Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator
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.
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 à la carte and sovereignty is not selective.”
Hasbani was referring to Hezbollah when he described “members in illegitimate security and military organizations”. Hasbani was defending the role of the Lebanese Army, which some blame for not protecting Batroun’s coast from the invaders who carried out the kidnapping. In this post, Hasbani is accusing Amhaz of being a member of Hezbollah without evidence.
Fingers are collectively pointing at UNIFIL’s German-led Maritime Task Force (MTF) for perhaps playing a strategic role in assisting the Israeli commandos in their beach invasion at Batroun. Local residents and military experts alike say it is impossible for military boats to enter Lebanon without the knowledge of UNIFIL’s German forces.
It would appear UNIFIL’s MTF was aware of the covert Israeli operation, allowed it to proceed to completion, and failed to alert the Lebanese authorities. UNIFIL is responsibility for alerting authorities to any Israeli sea landing.
Brigadier General Munir Shehadeh, former government coordinator for UNIFIL, this “was clearly a hostile act by Israel, in plain view of the international forces, led by Germany which is responsible for the naval team assigned to monitor Lebanese territorial waters.”
Shehadah said the kidnapping proved that Israel was free to violate Lebanese airspace, waters and land “without deterrence”.
Prior to the current conflict between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah, Israeli jets would routinely fly over Lebanon in violation of laws. Some flights were low altitude, and others would produce sonic boom blasts.
Shehadeh said, “the UN peacekeeping forces, whose role is to enforce Resolution 1701 and monitor Lebanon’s territorial waters, should have informed the Lebanese authorities” of what was underway.”
“They undoubtedly saw the arrival of the warship and the disembarkation of soldiers,” he added.
Shehadeh holds UNIFIL responsible for not informing the Lebanese authorities about the unfolding operation.
UNIFIL has denied any involvement in the Israeli operation, but has failed to explain how they could have missed seeing an Israeli warship anchored off the coast of Batroun, from which the speed boats carrying the commandos were launched to make shore.
Germany is responsible for the current MTF, and Germany has a history tied to Israel. One of the reasons that modern Germany is one of Israel’s strongest supporters, goes back to the WW2 holocaust carried out by the German Army killing millions of Jews, and prompting a mass migration of Jews from Europe to Palestine.
Germany has never forgiven themselves of their crime of genocide, and so they support the genocide of Palestinians at the hands of the Jews, who survived the holocaust in Europe, and their descendants.
During the current Israeli attack on Lebanon, a German warship operating under the UNIFIL MTF intercepted a resistance drone heading towards Israel. The German-led MTF had no right to intercept the drone under its terms of engagement, in Chapter 6 of the UN Charter. This was a revealing demonstration of Germany’s defense of Israel, and willingness to break international laws for the sake of Israel.
UNIFIL is responsible for monitoring the Lebanese coast under UN Security Council Resolution 1701.
Melanie Swan, of the UK media The Telegraph, presented a remarkable Israeli slant while in Tel Aviv. In her version of events, the Lebanese ship captain abducted by Israeli special forces may have been acting as a double agent.
A senior political figure in Lebanon, who opposes Hezbollah, told The Telegraph on the condition of anonymity that there were “signs pointing to the fact that Amhaz could have been a double agent”.
“But he was also believed to be deeply involved in sea smuggling routes and financing, which could make him a valuable asset to Israel, and it would be more valuable to keep him alive,” the unnamed official added.
The Telegraph article cloaks the identity of the political leader ‘who opposes Hezbollah’, but from the post on X by Hasbani of the Lebanese Forces, who are represented in Batroun, we might jump to a conclusion that it is possibly Hasbani, or his superior, Samir Geagea.
In Batroun there are Christian political parties who are opposed to Hezbollah. Samy Gemayel, head of the Kataeb Party, Samir Geagea of the Lebanese Forces, and Gebran Bassil of the Free Patriotic Movement.
Any one of those groups may have been the source of false accusations passed to Israeli intelligence concerning Imad Amhaz.
Ronen Solomon, an Israeli defence and intelligence analyst who is an expert on Hezbollah operatives and operations, was interviewed by The Telegraph.
“But also, because of his position, he could also have been recruited as a double agent for Israel and the rescue was to get him to safety outside Lebanon,” said Solomon.
Solomon’s theory sounds implausible because the Israeli team did not take the cell phone and sim cards with them, instead they left them behind in the room. If they believed Amhaz worked for them, they would have cleaned the room of incriminating evidence.
Not only did Israel threaten the life of Amhaz by kidnapping him and taking him to Israel as a prisoner, but they also ruined his name and reputation by insisting he was a spy, as well as a “terrorist”. This was a double-character assassination on Ahmaz, who is a Lebanese civilian ship captain.
Experts on Israel say Israel committed the kidnapping because they could, as Israel is never held to account for any crime they commit in any country on earth. There is no one to stop them, except the US, which protects and encourages their impunity. Committing genocide in Gaza is a far worse crime than kidnapping Amhaz, but even in the case of genocide the US provides weapons, cash and cover.
Nearly 3,000 people have been killed and more than 13,300 injured in Israeli attacks since October 2023, according to Lebanese health authorities. Israel expanded the conflict by launching an incursion into southern Lebanon on Oct. 1.
Steven Sahiounie is a two-time award-winning journalist
