An Israeli operation in eastern Lebanon to recover the remains of a famous pilot ended in failure overnight, resulting in a gunfight with Hezbollah and local residents, followed by airstrikes that killed dozens. The Lebanese army and health ministry reported three Lebanese soldiers and 41 residents dead in the Bekaa valley, with no Israeli casualties.
The operation began at 10pm on Friday when two Israeli helicopters landed near the towns of Nabi Chit and Khraibeh. Soldiers headed to a cemetery in Nabi Chit and began digging up a grave believed to contain the remains of Ron Arad, an Israeli pilot missing since 1986. The Lebanese army detected the incursion, launched flares, and a gun battle ensued involving local residents and Hezbollah fighters.
Hezbollah claimed its fighters ambushed the Israeli soldiers near the cemetery. The Israeli military launched at least 40 airstrikes on the town, with fighting lasting until 3am. Videos showed gunfire and tracer bullets, with residents calling for reinforcements. Several buildings were levelled, a main road was rendered inaccessible, and a large crater was left by the airstrikes.
Ron Arad was captured by the Amal movement in 1986 after his aircraft was damaged over southern Lebanon. He was handed over to Hezbollah, and no proof of life has been given since the late 1980s. An Israeli government commission concluded in 2004 that he died in the mid-1990s. Despite this, Israel has continued efforts to locate his remains.
Tami Arad, the pilot's widow, thanked those involved but said the family did not want Israeli lives risked. “We prefer to live with the painful possibility that Ron’s bones lie in Lebanon rather than wake up in the morning with the news that an IDF soldier was injured,” she said. Israeli President Isaac Herzog has previously stated that Israel must never cease efforts to bring Arad to burial in Israel.
