Lebanese security officials suspect that Israel's Mossad intelligence agency abducted a former senior military officer, Ahmad Shukr, in the Beqaa Valley, according to a report aired on Tuesday by the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya network.
Lebanese sources believe the alleged abduction is connected to the long-running mystery surrounding the fate of Israeli Air Force navigator Ron Arad, who was captured in Lebanon in 1986.
According to the report, Lebanese authorities assess that Shukr may possess information linked to Arad's capture, one of Israel's most painful and unresolved cases involving a missing serviceman.
The report stated that Lebanon's security establishment has stepped up its investigation since receiving information about Shukr's disappearance, reviewing surveillance camera footage and communications data. Investigators suspect that a Mossad team entered Lebanon via Beirut's international airport two days before the alleged abduction. The probe has also pointed to the possible involvement of two individuals holding Swedish citizenship, one of them of Lebanese origin, who arrived in Lebanon just days before the incident.
Ron Arad's capture
Arad was captured on October 16, 1986. At the time, he was serving in Squadron 69 of the Israeli Air Force, known as the Hammers Squadron, and was flying as a navigator in a Phantom jet on a mission to strike terrorist targets near Sidon, in southern Lebanon. A technical malfunction in one of the bombs caused it to explode close to the aircraft, forcing Arad and the pilot, Iftach Spector, to eject.
Strong winds carried the two airmen to different locations. The pilot was rescued by an Israeli Air Force helicopter after clinging to its landing skid. Arad, however, could not be located by rescue teams on the ground. After a brief period in hiding, he was captured by the Amal terrorist organization.
Arad's fate has remained unknown, despite decades of intelligence efforts by Israel to determine what happened to him.
