Sailor kidnapped in coastal raid in northern Lebanon | Israel attacks Lebanon News

Lebanese authorities launch an investigation into a suspected Israeli naval raid in Baytoun.

A group of armed men kidnapped a sailor in northern Lebanon, prompting an investigation by Lebanese authorities into whether Israel was involved in the raid.

A man identified by Lebanese state media as Imad Amhaz was captured after a naval force landed in the city of Batroun at dawn on Friday.

CCTV footage shared online by Lebanese journalists appeared to show a group of armed men leading a man with his shirt over his head.

According to local media, more than 25 gunmen landed in Batroun, about 50 km (31 miles) north of Beirut, and captured the man before returning to boats and leaving the area.

Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) said an “unidentified military force” carried out a “sea landing” on the Batroun shore at dawn on Friday.

The force “went with all its weapons and equipment to a beach hut, abducting a Lebanese man… and sailing out to sea in a motor boat,” 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 areas where we saw Israeli troops on the ground. This is an unprecedented raid,” he said.

“This is a very serious incident. I haven’t seen an extraction or kidnapping like this in a very long time. This is something the Lebanese authorities will take seriously. I’m already on the ground here.”

Israeli journalist Barak Ravid cited an unnamed Israeli source as claiming that Amhaz was a senior member of Hezbollah’s naval force.

Lebanon’s Minister of Public Works and Transport, Ali Hamieh, was quoted by the country’s National News Agency as saying Ahmaz was a civilian naval officer.

He said the man was abducted just 100 meters (328 feet) from his home and asked why UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which aimed to resolve a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, was not 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 of the UN peacekeeping force — which Israel has repeatedly attacked in recent weeks.

Kandice Ardiel, a spokeswoman for the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, denied allegations by local journalists who said UN forces aided the landing force in the operation.

“Disinformation and false rumors are irresponsible and endanger peacekeepers,” Ardiel said.

The rare nighttime raid in northern Lebanon comes as the Israeli military continues to shell areas across the country.

Airstrikes on Saturday afternoon hit parts of Nabatieh, the Bekaa Valley and the ancient cities of Tire and Baalbek.

Hezbollah continued to fire rockets and drones into Israel. Israeli media reported on Saturday that a rocket injured 19 people in Tayibe, in central Israel.