View of Hebbarieh, a village in Arkoub located near Kfar Shuba, in southern Lebanon. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient-Le Jour)
SOUTH LEBANON — The mayor of Kfar Shuba (Hasbaya district), Qassem Qadri, confirmed to our correspondent in south Lebanon that municipal council member Mohammad Hassan al-Hage and municipal employee Ahmad Salah Diab were abducted by Israeli forces around 10 a.m. on Wednesday while operating a water pump outside the village
Qadri said the two men had gone to the well at 9 a.m., as they do every day, to pump water to the village and refill the pump's diesel tank. An Israeli patrol reportedly descended from a position overlooking Kfar Shuba and abducted them.
“When they were late returning, we went to check and found they were no longer there. We also noticed the work had not been completed, which indicates they were taken before they could finish their task. We found the pickup truck at the site with its doors open and the keys inside,” he said.
“We waited for some time, then I went to the site with the village mukhtar [local elected official] and another employee. We completed the task ourselves by pumping water to the village and refilling the engine's diesel tank,” he added.
According to Qadri, Lebanese Army Intelligence and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were notified. UNIFIL reportedly initiated contacts through its headquarters in Naqoura, while the Prime Minister's Office was also informed of the incident.
“Since then, we have received no information regarding their fate or condition,” he said.
Asked by AFP's Jerusalem bureau, the Israeli army said it was “looking into” the reports.
Such operations are not unprecedented. Throughout nearly three years of conflict in south Lebanon, Israeli forces have repeatedly kidnapped Lebanese residents, including local officials, in border villages, particularly in the Arkoub region, including during the 15-month cease-fire that lasted from November 2024 to March 2026. Some detainees were released the same day, while others remain in Israeli custody.
There are no official figures on the number of Lebanese currently detained in Israel since the resumption of full-scale hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel in March.
