IDF Reveals Details of 2024 Raid, Releases Interrogation Footage of Captured Hezbollah Maritime Operative

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The Israel Defense Forces on Friday disclosed new information about a daring naval commando raid conducted more than a year ago, during which elite Shayetet 13 forces captured a senior Hezbollah operative involved in the terror group’s secret maritime activities.

The operation, dubbed “Operation Behind the Back,” took place on the night of Nov. 1-2, 2024, when commandos landed on the coast of Batroun in northern Lebanon — approximately 140 kilometers (87 miles) north of Israel’s maritime border — and seized Imad Amhaz from a seaside chalet.

In an unusual move, the IDF released footage from Amhaz’s interrogation, in which he described his key role in Hezbollah’s highly classified “secret maritime file,” aimed at building infrastructure for sea-based terror attacks under civilian cover.

According to IDF Arabic-language spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee, Amhaz was “one of the most significant figures” in Hezbollah’s coast-to-sea missile unit, known as Unit 7900. Amhaz received military training in Iran and Lebanon, acquiring extensive maritime expertise intended for attacks on Israeli and international targets.

Adraee highlighted that Amhaz had trained at a civilian Lebanese maritime institute, calling it “another example of Hezbollah’s cynical exploitation of Lebanese civilian institutions to advance its terror activities.”

During interrogation, Amhaz revealed sensitive details about the unit, described as one of Hezbollah’s “most sensitive and secret projects.” The initiative was reportedly directed by the group’s late leader Hassan Nasrallah and former military chief Fuad Shukr — both eliminated by Israel in 2024 — as well as Ali Abd al-Hassan Nour al-Din, identified as head of the secret maritime file.

Adraee said the combination of leadership eliminations and intelligence from Amhaz allowed the IDF to disrupt the project “at a critical point in time,” preventing it from becoming operational. He added that the maritime efforts, like other Hezbollah naval units, rely on ideological and financial support from Iran.

The raid, executed without gunfire, marked a rare deep incursion into northern Lebanon amid the ongoing conflict with Hezbollah. At the time, Lebanese officials described Amhaz as a civilian sea captain, while his family denied any terror ties.