Four martyrs in Lebanon… and an Israeli force infiltrates and kidnaps a leader of the Islamic Group

An Israeli force infiltrated a town in southern Lebanon before dawn on Monday, abducting a leader of the Islamic Group. Israeli fire also killed four Lebanese civilians, despite the ceasefire agreement.

The Islamic Group announced Monday morning that an Israeli special forces unit infiltrated the town of Habbarieh in the Hasbaya district of southern Lebanon and abducted Atwi Atwi, the group’s official in Hasbaya and Marjeyoun, from his home.

The group’s statement indicated that Atwi was taken to an unknown location after his family was terrorized and assaulted.

The group held the Israeli occupation forces responsible for any harm that befalls him, and asserted that “this act is yet another in a series of daily violations and barbaric attacks on sovereignty perpetrated by the occupation forces.”

Four Lebanese civilians, including a child, were killed on Monday in an Israeli airstrike and gunfire in southern Lebanon, marking another violation of the ceasefire that has been in place since 2014.

The Lebanese Ministry of Health said in a statement that “a citizen was martyred in the town of Aita al-Shaab in the Bint Jbeil district of southern Lebanon, as a result of being shot by the Israeli enemy.” Israel has killed more than 4,000 people and wounded nearly 17,000 in Lebanon during an offensive that began in October 2013 and escalated into a full-scale war in September 2014.