The IDF has disclosed new details of a covert naval raid carried out deep inside Lebanon last year, revealing that elite Israeli commandos captured one of Hezbollah’s most significant and tightly guarded operatives involved in planning maritime terror attacks.

According to the IDF, members of the Israeli Navy’s Shayetet 13 unit launched a nighttime operation from the sea on November 1, 2024, raiding a chalet along the coast of Batroun, south of Tripoli — roughly 140 kilometers (87 miles) north of Israel’s maritime border with Lebanon. The commandos abducted Imad Amhaz, identified by the military as a senior figure in Hezbollah’s clandestine maritime warfare apparatus.

Amhaz, the IDF said, was “one of the most significant figures in Hezbollah’s secret maritime file” and a member of the terror group’s coast-to-sea missile unit, known internally as Unit 7900.

In an unusual step, the IDF released footage of Amhaz’s interrogation, underscoring the intelligence windfall produced by the operation.

According to the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee, Amhaz played a central role in developing Hezbollah’s capacity to carry out maritime terror attacks targeting Israeli and international assets.

“As part of his role, Amhaz received military training in Iran and Lebanon and gained extensive maritime expertise and experience for the purpose of carrying out maritime terror attacks,” Adraee said.

The IDF said Amhaz also trained at a civilian Lebanese maritime institute, which Adraee described as “another example of Hezbollah’s cynical exploitation of Lebanese civilian institutions to advance its terror activities.”

During his interrogation, Amhaz provided what the military called sensitive intelligence on Hezbollah’s “secret maritime file” — a highly classified project aimed at building a covert infrastructure for maritime terrorism under civilian cover.

“The secret maritime project is considered one of Hezbollah’s most sensitive and secret projects,” Adraee said. He added that the initiative was overseen by Hezbollah’s top leadership, including former leader Hassan Nasrallah and former military chief Fuad Shukr, both of whom were later killed by Israel, as well as Ali Abd al-Hassan Nour al-Din, identified as the head of the secret maritime file.

According to the IDF, the project focused on developing organized capabilities to strike Israeli and international targets at sea, including through missiles and other maritime attack platforms designed to blend into civilian environments along the Lebanese coast.

Israeli officials said the capture of Amhaz, combined with the elimination of Hezbollah’s senior leadership, allowed the military to disrupt the group’s maritime terror ambitions at a “critical point in time.”

“The information provided by Amhaz during his interrogation enabled the IDF to significantly damage Hezbollah’s progress in advancing the secret maritime file,” Adraee said.

The IDF did not disclose Amhaz’s current status or whether additional arrests or operations are tied to the intelligence he provided, citing security concerns.

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