A retired Lebanese security officer disappeared in December after leaving home to meet a prospective buyer interested in purchasing a plot of land he owned. Lebanese authorities and relatives of former General Security Directorate Captain Ahmed Shukr suspect he was abducted and secretly transferred to Israel as part of an intelligence operation intended to uncover information about the fate of an Israeli airman who went missing in Lebanon nearly four decades ago.
Family members believe Shukr was targeted because of his brother’s alleged links to the long-unsolved case of Israeli navigator Ron Arad. They maintain that Ahmed Shukr never belonged to any militant organisation and had no involvement in Arad’s disappearance.
Almost three months after Shukr vanished — and amid escalating regional tensions following US and Israeli strikes on Iran — Israeli forces conducted a commando raid in the Lebanese town of Nabi Chit over the weekend, reportedly searching for Arad’s remains. Residents said the team began excavating graves in the Shukr family cemetery before clashes erupted with Hezbollah fighters and armed civilians. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said the confrontation and subsequent airstrikes killed 41 people and injured dozens, while no Israeli casualties were reported.
It remains unclear whether the operation was linked to information allegedly obtained from Shukr. The Israeli military confirmed the mission aimed to find evidence about Arad’s fate but said no remains were discovered. Officials declined to comment on allegations that Shukr had been taken to Israel.
The episode aligns with a long history of covert Israeli operations inside Lebanon targeting individuals believed to be connected to anti-Israel activities. Israel has sometimes acknowledged such missions, including the capture of a sea captain from northern Lebanon in November 2024 whom it described as a senior Hezbollah operative. In other incidents, such as the 2024 abduction and killing of a Lebanese currency exchanger reportedly linked to Hezbollah, Israel remained silent despite Lebanese officials claiming evidence of its involvement.
Israel has sought answers about Arad since 1986, when he bailed out of his aircraft during an attack near Sidon and was captured by a Shiite faction known as the Believers’ Resistance. In 1994, Israeli commandos raided Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley and captured the group’s leader, Mustafa Dirani, who was later released in a prisoner exchange. Over the years, Dirani gave differing accounts about Arad’s fate, while other reports suggested Iranian involvement. In 2008, Hezbollah conveyed an assessment indicating Arad likely died while attempting to escape.
Relatives said that months before his disappearance, Shukr became acquainted with a Lebanese man named Ali Morad through social media. Morad rented an apartment owned by Shukr and later contacted him about a businessman allegedly interested in buying land in Zahle. Despite Shukr’s initial reluctance to meet late in the day, he travelled to Zahle on December 17. Security footage reportedly showed him leaving his car and entering another vehicle, after which he was never seen again.
Shukr’s wife said the family lost contact with him entirely after that moment. His phone was last active early the next morning in the village of Ghazzeh, and relatives believe he may have been transported by land across the southern border into Israel. They also expressed concern about his health, noting he suffers from diabetes, hypertension and heart disease requiring regular medication.
Human rights advocates described the incident as resembling an extraordinary rendition, involving cross-border detention without due legal process. Lebanese judicial officials said four suspects have been charged, including Morad, a Lebanese-French national, a Syrian-Swedish citizen and a Lebanese woman who rented a villa overlooking Zahle. Investigators said a vehicle allegedly used in the abduction was purchased for USD 22,000, while the villa rental cost USD 42,000 for one year.
Morad’s lawyer stated that her client believed he was working for a foreign company and unknowingly became involved in the operation. She said he purchased the vehicle under his own name because the company lacked legal status in Lebanon and later surrendered himself once he realised the seriousness of the case.
Shukr’s immediate family insists he has no knowledge regarding Arad’s fate. However, another relative, speaking anonymously, said Shukr’s brother Hassan was a Hezbollah member who knew where Arad had been detained. The relative claimed Arad was once held in a locked room at a property belonging to Hassan’s in-laws in Nabi Chit. Lebanese judicial sources cited an old army report suggesting Arad had been held by the Shukr family and received medical care there during illness.
According to the relative, Hassan Shukr was killed in the 1988 Meidoun battle. Fighters returning afterward allegedly found the detention room open and Arad missing. Despite this account, the family member reiterated that Ahmed Shukr played no role in detaining Arad and possesses no further information.
Journalists who visited the villa reportedly used as an operational base found it sealed by Lebanese authorities. Nearby residents said security forces collected evidence from the property in mid-December, and local shopkeepers reported that surveillance recordings were seized. Locals added that the house had previously been rented for private gatherings.
