An Iranian terrorist operative was recently arrested in Syrian territory, the IDF spokesman announced Sunday evening. The arrest was carried out in recent months during a nighttime operation in southern Syria, by the soldiers of the Egoz unit with field investigators of Unit 504, under the command of Division 210 and with intelligence guidance.
The detained spy, Ali Soleiman al-Assi, a Syrian citizen who lives in Saida in southern Syria, was employed by Iran and engaged in gathering intelligence on IDF forces in the border area for future terrorist activity. Al-Aasi was under close surveillance by IDF forces, and he is under investigation in Israel by members of Unit 504 and the security forces.
Iranian operative abducted by troops in Syria during his interrogation
(Video: IDF Spokespersons Unit)
"The operation by Israel Defense Forces troops to detain al-Assi prevented a future attack and led to the exposure of the operational methods of Iranian terror networks located near the Golan Heights," an IDF spokesperson said.
The Saudi channel Al-Hadith reported Sunday afternoon that an Israeli commando force entered Syria and kidnapped a Syrian working with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
According to Syrian reports, in July an IDF force accompanied by military vehicles entered the village of Al-Razania, in the south of the Quneitra district, arrested the citizen Ali Soleiman al-Assi at his home, and transferred him to Israeli territory. The reports claim that he worked transporting milk to Damascus and it is not clear why the report was published on the Syrian Voice of the Capitol website, which is affiliated with the opposition in the country, and on a local Syrian website.
Iranian operative abducted by IDF troops in Syria
(Video: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
'It is possible that Israel disrupted UNIFIL radars to reach northern Lebanon coast'
This is the second time in the last day that the IDF admits, unusually, that its forces arrested terrorist operatives in enemy territory in a special operation.
Last night it was allowed to be published that in a special operation of the 13th Fleet arrested a senior Hezbollah operative in the town of Batroun in northern Lebanon who is an expert in his field. The detainee, Imad Fadel Amhaz, was transferred to Israel and interrogated by Unit 504.
The IDF confirmed that in a special commando operation together with the Navy, the flotilla's force intercepted an active member of Hezbollah, "who is an expert in the maritime field."
Officials in Israel said Saturday that the operation, according to one, "primarily shows operational boldness, they come and simply pick upsomeone from deep in Lebanon." An official said that the arrested activist is "a man who was a significant operational factor in military capabilities, such as those used by Hezbollah in the Second Lebanon War." On Sunday morning, the Lebanese networks published a comment by the arrested man's father, Fadel, who claimed that his son was not involved in politics.
The Arabic-language Saudi newspaper ASharq Al-Awsat, which is published in London, published new details about the arrest in Batroun on Sunday. A legal source told the newspaper that the Information Department of the Internal Security in Lebanon has opened an investigation into the incident, and that it will take "at least three days to find out the details of the operation and the method the Israelis used to carry it out successfully." A security source quoted in the newspaper said that there are several scenarios which the Israelis could have used, and that the investigation so far has not determined whether the forces reached the shore with boats or helicopters.
According to the newspaper, the UNIFIL forces informed the Lebanese side that they too had begun an investigation to determine the measures taken by the IDF. The source said that it is possible that Israel had disrupted the radars of the UNIFIL forces, which made it easier for the Israeli forces to reach the coast without being discovered by UNIFIL or the Lebanese army, but so far this has not been confirmed.
UNIFIL forces enjoy international immunity and therefore the Lebanese mechanisms cannot investigate them, unless they cooperate and deliver the information requested by Lebanon. The forces operating in Lebanon do not have to deliver to Lebanon the results of the special investigation they conduct, but can only submit them to the UN Secretary General.
In February, the Syrian news site Nidaa al-Watan reported from sources that Mataa al-Sarhan, a senior member of Baath - the ruling party in Syria - disappeared after leaving his home in the village of al-Rafid in the Quneitra district of Syria. In media affiliated with the country's opposition there were various reports about his fate - some claimed that he was kidnapped in front of his house, others reported that he fled to Israel and, according to one report, he had been in Israel and was released back to Syria. The Syrian regime and the official media did not comment on the incident.
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