Investigations Suggest Israel Kidnapped Lebanese Officer Linked to Ron Arad Case

SadaNews - A prominent Lebanese judicial source revealed on Tuesday evening that investigations into the disappearance of a retired officer from the General Security a week ago suggest he was kidnapped by Israel, following an "intelligence-based entrapment operation," in connection with suspicions of his involvement in the file of missing Israeli pilot Ron Arad in southern Lebanon in 1986.

The source mentioned in a conversation with the newspaper "Asharq Al-Awsat" that the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch "has intensified its investigations since the reported disappearance of retired captain Ahmad Shukr about a week ago in the Bekaa area."

He confirmed that the investigation branch "worked on tracking surveillance camera movements and analyzing communication data, reaching initial clues indicating that Shukr fell victim to a well-planned entrapment operation that originated from his hometown in Nabi Sheet (northern Bekaa), before he lost track in a location very close to the city of Zahle, where security efforts are focusing to uncover his fate."

Intelligence Entrapment

With conflicting accounts regarding the reasons and circumstances of Shukr's disappearance, the hypothesis of Israel being behind his kidnapping has begun to surface based on initial data revealed by ongoing investigations.

What reinforces the security-intelligence factor are suspicions about non-Lebanese individuals associated with the incident. The judicial source clarifies that information extracted from the initial investigations and monitoring operations indicates that "the entrapment operation was executed by two Swedish individuals, one of whom is of Lebanese descent, who arrived in Lebanon just two days before the incident through Rafic Hariri International Airport. The first of them departed through the airport on the same day Shukr disappeared, raising significant questions regarding his potential role in the operation."

The second individual, who also has Lebanese origins, is believed by the source to have "participated in the entrapment operation and is still present inside Lebanon, as records from General Security at the airport and through land and sea crossings show he has not left the country, unless he did so illegally." The source does not dismiss the possibility of "other individuals in Lebanon being involved in monitoring Ahmad Shukr and preparing the atmosphere for his entrapment and kidnapping."

Assassination or Kidnapping?

Various scenarios arise regarding the fate of the retired officer, between the possibility of his assassination akin to what was attributed to the "Mossad" in the case of the assassination of the currency dealer Ahmad Sarour linked to "Hezbollah" last year, and a more dangerous yet realistic hypothesis, which is his transfer outside Lebanon, specifically to Israel.

In this context, the judicial source overseeing the initial investigation indicates that the Intelligence Branch "has not yet found any material or technical evidence indicating Shukr's presence within Lebanese territory, reinforcing the hypothesis of his being sedated and kidnapped to Israel, either by air in a complex operation or by sea via a boat that launched from Lebanese shores, as occurred in the kidnapping of naval captain Imad Amhaz from the shores of Batroun (northern Lebanon) on November 2 of last year."

Connections to Ron Arad Case

The case does not stop at a singular disappearance incident, but intersects with a historically sensitive security file between Lebanon and Israel. Sources close to Shukr's family revealed to "Asharq Al-Awsat" that the missing officer is the brother of Hassan Shukr, who was killed along with eight others in the battle of Maidoun (western Bekaa) that took place between fighters of the "Islamic Resistance" and other armed groups, along with Israeli occupation forces on May 22, 1988.

Information suggests that Hassan Shukr "was a fighter within the group led by Mustafa Dirani (who was with the "Amal" Movement at that time before later joining "Hezbollah"), which participated in the capture of Israeli pilot Ron Arad following the downing of his plane in southern Lebanon on October 16, 1986, and that the armed group that captured him transferred him to the home of one of Shukr's relatives in the town of Nabi Sheet in the Bekaa region before moving him to an unknown location and completely losing track of him."

Shukr is from the family of the second-in-command of "Hezbollah" Fuad Shukr who was previously assassinated on July 30, 2024, in an airstrike on a building in Haret Hreik in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

This dangerous security operation reopens a long record of Israeli operations targeting individuals directly or indirectly linked to the Ron Arad file, whether through assassination, kidnapping, or recruitment attempts. In light of this, the judicial source expresses concern that Ahmad Shukr's disappearance may be "a new link in this series of Israeli recklessness in the Lebanese arena."