An Israeli military operation in eastern Lebanon to recover the remains of a missing pilot ended in failure overnight, resulting in a gunfight with Hezbollah and local residents, followed by airstrikes that killed dozens of people. The Lebanese army and health ministry reported that three Lebanese soldiers and 41 residents of the Bekaa valley were killed, with no injuries among Israeli soldiers.
The operation began at 10pm on Friday when two Israeli helicopters landed near the towns of Nabi Chit and Khraibeh along the Syrian-Lebanese border. Israeli 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 who went missing in Lebanon in 1986. The Lebanese army detected the incursion and launched flares, sparking a gun battle between Israeli forces, local residents, and Hezbollah fighters.
Hezbollah claimed its fighters ambushed the soldiers outside the cemetery with support from residents. 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 and handed over to Hezbollah after his aircraft was damaged in 1986. No proof of life has been given since the late 1980s, and an Israeli government commission concluded in 2004 that he died in the mid-1990s. The Israeli government has continued efforts to locate his remains, with former prime minister Naftali Bennett stating in 2021 that an Iranian general was abducted from Syria as part of the search.
Arad's widow, Tami Arad, thanked those involved in the operation but said the family did not want Israeli military lives risked. 'We prefer to live with the painful possibility that Ron’s bones lie in Lebanon rather than wake up with the news that an IDF soldier was injured or killed,' she said. Last year, Israeli President Isaac Herzog stated that Israel must never cease efforts to bring Arad to burial in Israel.
