Israel has carried out airstrikes in Syria several times over the past year, targeting members of Lebanese Hezbollah and officials in Iran, Hezbollah and Syria’s close ally. But the Jewish state has not previously made public any ground incursion into Syria.
The Israeli military said the capture was part of a special operation “that took place in recent months,” although it did not specify when exactly it occurred. Syria did not immediately confirm the announcement, but a pro-government Syrian radio station, Sham FM, reported on Sunday that Israeli forces had carried out a “kidnapping operation” over the summer targeting a man in the south of the country.
Israel has been waging an increasingly intense bombing campaign in Lebanon for six weeks, as well as a ground invasion along the two countries’ shared border, with the aim of paralyzing Hezbollah. On Saturday, an Israeli military official said naval forces carried out a raid on a town in northern Lebanon, capturing a man they said was a high-ranking Hezbollah operative.
The army identified the man as Ali Soleiman al-Assi, saying he lives in the Saida region of southern Syria. She said the man had been under military surveillance for many months and was involved in Iranian initiatives targeting areas of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights near the border with Syria.
Body camera video of the raid released by the military showed soldiers capturing a man in a white tank top inside a building. The man was taken to Israel for questioning, the army said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the border with Lebanon on Sunday, saying his goal was to prevent Hezbollah from rearming thanks to the “oxygen lifeline” of Iranian weapons transferred to Lebanon via Syria . Israel says its campaign in Lebanon aims to drive Hezbollah away from the border and end more than a year of firing by the group in northern Israel.
Israeli strikes in Lebanon have killed more than 2,500 people over the past year. In Israel, 69 people were killed by Hezbollah projectiles.
Canada
