In a covert mission last year in the town of Batroun in northern Lebanon, Israeli naval commandos from Shayetet 13 arrested Imad Amhaz, a senior official in Hezbollah's secret naval unit.
The operation, named "Behind the Back," was conducted approximately 140 km from the Israel border, under the direction of the Naval Intelligence Department.
Amhaz, a member of Coastal Missile Unit 7900, underwent military training in both Lebanon and Iran. As part of his training, he also participated in courses in the Lebanese civil maritime institute Marsati, which indicates Hezbollah's operating procedure, which uses civilian institutions for terror.
During his interrogation in Israel, Amhaz revealed details of the organization's secret naval unit, the purpose of which is to establish a maritime terror infrastructure in civilian guise.
The naval unit is considered one of Hezbollah's most sensitive projects and was directly directed by the organization's Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah.
Together with him worked Fuad Shuqr, a senior military commander who was eliminated during the war, and Ali Abdelhassan Nur al-Din, who was considered directly responsible for the project.
The neutralization of the command echelon responsible for the file, combined with the intelligence obtained from Amhaz’s interrogation, enabled the IDF to halt the project’s progress at a critical juncture. As a result, the project’s further development and entrenchment within Hezbollah were prevented.