A retired Lebanese security officer has been missing since December after going to meet a potential buyer for a plot of land. His family and Lebanese officials believe he was abducted and taken to Israel in an intelligence operation linked to the disappearance of an Israeli airman four decades ago.
Ahmed Shukr, a former captain in the General Security Directorate, vanished on December 17 after driving to the city of Zahle. Security footage shows him leaving his car and entering another vehicle. His family says his phone was last active the following morning in the eastern village of Ghazzeh.
Relatives believe Shukr was targeted because of his brother's possible connections to the disappearance of Israeli navigator Ron Arad, who was captured by a Shiite faction in Lebanon in 1986. They insist Shukr was never part of any militant group and played no role in Arad's disappearance.
This weekend, Israeli commandos carried out a deadly operation in the Lebanese village of Nabi Chit, digging in the Shukr family cemetery in search of Arad's remains. The raid sparked clashes with Hezbollah fighters and armed civilians, leaving 41 dead and dozens wounded, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. The Israeli military said the operation aimed to find evidence of Arad's fate but did not find his remains.
Israel has a history of covert operations in Lebanon, including the 2024 abduction of a sea captain and the killing of a currency exchanger. In 1994, Israeli commandos seized Mustafa Dirani, the leader of the group that captured Arad, and took him to Israel. Dirani later gave conflicting accounts of Arad's fate.
Shukr's wife, Salwa Hazimeh, said her husband had been contacted by a Lebanese man named Ali Morad, who arranged the meeting. She said Morad insisted on a late afternoon appointment despite her husband's concerns. Shukr, who has diabetes and heart problems, requires constant medication. The family believes he was taken by land into Israel.
