The Israeli military, on Friday, revealed new details on how it disrupted Hezbollah’s maritime terrorist operation during last year’s offensive against the Iranian-backed terrorist group. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released an interrogation video of Imad Amhaz, a senior commander in the terror group’s naval operation, who was captured by Israeli special forces deep inside hostile territory in Lebanon.
In early November 2024, Amhaz was nabbed by Shayetet 13, regarded as Israel’s Navy SEALs, from a remote coastal town in northern Lebanon. The Guardian (UK) described the IDF’s daring operation as “first of its kind, with Israeli soldiers landing in north Lebanon – an area unaffiliated with Hezbollah and almost 100 miles from the Lebanon-Israel border.”
The Lebanese government cried foul at that time, calling for a United Nations inquiry over the “kidnapp[ing] of the citizen Imad Amhaz.” The IDF interrogation video shows Amhaz confessing to his leading role in Hezbollah’s terrorist naval operations and plans to attack Israel from the sea. According to Amhaz, Israel and the U.S. are enemies of Hezbollah.
While the IDF released only a 3-minute video, media reports suggest that the top terror commander may have spilled the beans on Hezbollah’s highly secretive terrorist naval operations against Israel. The newspaper Israel Hayom observed how Amhaz “systematically laid out the complete picture behind one of Hezbollah’s most secretive and organized operations – a strategic, creative, and ambitious project dubbed “The Clandestine Maritime File”.”
The Israeli news outlet Ynetnews reported the details of the terrorist’s interrogation:
The IDF on [F]riday released rare interrogation footage of Imad Amhaz, a senior commander in Hezbollah’s naval unit who was captured about a year ago in a covert commando raid on Lebanon’s northern coast, dubbed Operation Behind the Back. (…)In the footage, Amhaz describes the command structure of Hezbollah’s secret maritime project, saying it was overseen directly by the group’s slain leader Hassan Nasrallah and by Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah’s former chief of staff, who was also later killed. He identified Ali Abd al-Hassan al-Nour as a senior official still alive and responsible for the project.The IDF said Amhaz served in Hezbollah’s coastal missile unit and underwent extensive training in Iran and Lebanon. He also studied at a civilian maritime institute in Lebanon as part of what the military described as a cover for terror-related activity at sea.During his interrogation in Israel, Amhaz said he played a central role in what he called Hezbollah’s “secret maritime file,” one of the organization’s most classified and compartmentalized projects. According to the IDF, the project was intended to establish a covert maritime terror infrastructure disguised as civilian activity, targeting Israeli and international interests.“This work has to remain secret. It’s not logical for someone known as an organization member to operate openly,” Amhaz said in the interrogation footage. “If someone with a senior role suddenly goes out to sea, it immediately raises suspicion.”Amhaz told interrogators the unit carried out a wide range of activities, including the transfer of personnel and military equipment via commercial vessels. He said Israel was a primary target, but added that Hezbollah also considers the United States an enemy.
Hezbollah’s Iranian armed and trained terrorists have long been planning maritime operations against Israel. In 2022, Hezbollah chief Nasrallah threatened to target Israel’s offshore gas drilling operation, prompting the IDF to deploy the Iron Dome air defense system to protect maritime infrastructure in the north of the country.
Nearly one year after the IDF ground offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, the terrorist group is rebuilding its terrorist presence on Israel’s northern border. With the Lebanese government failing to disarm Hezbollah in violation of the U.S.-backed ceasefire deal, the IDF is carrying out targeted strikes in southern Lebanon.
Israeli air strikes, on Friday, destroyeda Hezbollah training camp and other terrorist targets. The “IDF struck terror infrastructure sites in multiple areas across Lebanon,” the military announced. “In the strikes, terror infrastructure sites and launching sites in a military compound used by Hezbollah to conduct training and courses for the organization’s terrorists, as well as launch artillery fire and store weapons were dismantled.”
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY