Lebanon Fears Mossad Snatched Security Official Involved in 1986 Capture of Israeli Pilot Ron Arad

Lebanon Fears Mossad Snatched Security Official Involved in 1986 Capture of Israeli Pilot Ron Arad

Lebanese authorities are searching for a senior security official involved in the capture and disappearance of Israeli Air Force officer Ron Arad, whose plane went down over southern Lebanon in October 1986. Ahmed Shukr, who is believed to have information on the whereabouts of the Israeli pilot missing for more than 39 years, was allegedly “lured by” two Swedish nationals before he disappeared.

While Lebanese authorities frantically look for the Hezbollah-linked ‘Captain‘ Shukr, local and regional Arab newspapers are blaming Israel’s Mossad. “Lebanese security services suspect that Israel’s Mossad was behind the abduction of a retired General Security officer, Ahmed Shukr, over his alleged links to the disappearance of Israeli air force navigator Ron Arad,” Israel’s i24NEWS TV channel reported Wednesday.

The TV channel cited Arab news reports, saying “Lebanese security services suspect that Israel’s Mossad was behind the abduction of a retired General Security officer, Ahmed Shukr, over his alleged links to the disappearance of Israeli air force navigator Ron Arad.”

HOW THE DISAPPEARANCE OF A LEBANESE EX-SECURITY OFFICER COULD BE CONNECTED TO THE UNKNOWN FATE OF RON ARAD.

Lebanese authorities are scrambling over the disappearance of a retired security officer in recent days, with the case potentially linked to the decades-long mystery over… https://t.co/BHFDYWWsJP pic.twitter.com/kYrfpqjV7u

— Ariel Oseran أريئل أوسيران (@ariel_oseran) December 24, 2025

Some Arab news outlets believe that Shukur was either kidnapped by Mossad or willingly switched sides. “Lebanese media suggested two theories for the Shukr’s disappearance: that he cooperated and willingly left Lebanon, and that he was kidnapped,” The Israel National News wrote.

Arad, a 28-year-old navigator onboard the IDF’s F-4 Phantom fighter jet, was captured by the Shia-Islamic terrorist group Amal after parachuting out of his burning aircraft while on a combat mission. Amid contradictory reports surrounding Arad’s fate, the Israeli public has hoped and prayed for his safe return over the decades. Most Israeli analysts believe that he either died in captivity or was executed by his captors after a failed escape attempt in 1988.

Waiting for Ron.

35 years after the capture of Maj. Ron Arad, who ejected his aircraft over Lebanon, the 69th ("Hammers") Squadron gathered to honor their brother who left and never returned 👉https://t.co/IeXXKCuVvl pic.twitter.com/vRbWFtYM51

— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) October 16, 2021

According to some Israeli reports, Arad was last seen in a house owned by the Shukur family. The Shukur clan has been responsible for guarding him. “In early 1988, Arad was hidden in the small village of Nabi Shith in the Bekaa Valley, where he was guarded by the Shukur clan,” German weekly Der Spiegel revealed in 2009.

May 5th would've been #RonArad's 65th birthday. In 1986, #Israeli Lieutenant Colonel Ron Arad was taken captive by Shiite and Hezbollah terrorists while serving Israel in Lebanon. After 38 years, we still do not know Colonel Arad’s fate, but there are indications that Arad was… pic.twitter.com/cF4GxXdUdE

— StandWithUs (@StandWithUs) May 8, 2023

The Times of Israel reported:

Lebanese authorities are investigating the recent disappearance of a retired security officer whose brother was apparently involved in the 1986 capture of an Israeli Air Force navigator, a Lebanese judicial official told AFP on Tuesday, amid speculation that Israeli agents could have nabbed him. (…)

The Lebanese judicial official said on condition of anonymity that authorities were looking into the disappearance a week ago of retired General Security officer Ahmad Shukr amid conflicting information about his fate.

Initial investigations indicated Shukr “was lured from his hometown of Nabi Sheet” to a location near the city of Zahle, where he disappeared. (…)

The judicial official said information indicated Ahmad Shukr “was lured by two Swedes who arrived in Lebanon two days before his kidnapping, and that one left through Beirut airport the day Shukr disappeared.”

Shukr is a relative of Hezbollah military chief Fuad Shukr, whom Israel assassinated last year, according to the UK-based Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat.

According to the newspaper, Hassan Shukr was part of a cell led by then-Amal commander Mustafa Dirani that took part in shooting down Arad’s plane and abducting him. Arad was held for a while in a house belonging to the Shukr family in Nabi Chit, the newspaper said.

Today marks 39 years since the Israeli Air Force navigator Ron Arad was taken captive. Ron ejected from his aircraft on October 16, 1986, over Lebanon. He was taken by the Amal organization. To this day, his true fate remains unknown, despite various assessments. pic.twitter.com/U7n30wgbDr

— Israel News Pulse (@israelnewspulse) October 17, 2025

The disappearance of a senior Lebanese official once again highlights deep ties between the country’s security apparatus and Iran-backed terrorist groups. Earlier this week, the IDF eliminated three Hezbollah operatives, including one working for the Lebanese military intelligence. “The IDF said on Tuesday that it had killed Ali Abdullah who had served simultaneously in Lebanese army intelligence and in Hezbollah, along with two other Hezbollah operatives,” the Jerusalem Post reported.

“Abdullah had previously also served in the LAF’s anti-tank battalion—a unit responsible for training army battalions and special brigades in the use of various weapons systems,” the Israeli thinktank Alma Research and Education Center observed. “This case is not exceptional. Hezbollah employs numerous officers and soldiers within the LAF — most of them from the Shiite community—who assist the organization directly or indirectly.”

(1/3) Yesterday (22 December), in an airstrike on a vehicle near the village of Qnaitra, three #Hezbollah operatives were eliminated. One of them, Ali Abdullah, was a Hezbollah operative who served concurrently in the Intelligence unit of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF).… pic.twitter.com/lUtOH0yyxg

— Israel-Alma (@Israel_Alma_org) December 23, 2025

Meanwhile, the Lebanese government remains hostile to Israel. Beirut is failing to disarm Hezbollah (violating the terms of the President Trump-brokered November 2024 ceasefire agreement), and its armed forces watch idly by as the Iranian proxy rebuilds terrorist infrastructure in the south of the country along the border with Israel. Earlier this week, country’s Foreign Minister, Youssef Rajji, declared open hostility, saying Lebanon was “officially at war” with Israel.

Israel’s Ynetnews reported:

Lebanon’s foreign minister, Youssef Rajji, said Tuesday that there is no chance of amending the law banning normalization with Israel, stressing that Lebanon is “officially at war” with the Jewish state.

“There is no possibility of correcting the law that prohibits normalization with Israel. We are formally in a state of war,” Rajji said, speaking amid denials in Lebanon that a Hezbollah terrorist killed in an Israeli strike this week also served in Lebanese army intelligence.

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