以色列军方称，乘坐直升机的以色列突击队员连夜突袭黎巴嫩东部腹地，旨在寻找失踪的以色列空军导航员罗恩·阿拉德遗体。据当地官员称，此次突袭行动伴随着以色列的猛烈空袭，造成至少41人死亡。以色列方面无人员伤亡。

以色列国防军表示，在纳比奇特地区的行动中，没有发现任何与阿拉德有关的线索。不过，军方表示，现在可以排除一种关于阿拉德遗体下落的可能性。40年前，阿拉德的飞机在黎巴嫩上空被击落。

军方称，已将最新进展告知阿拉德的家人。阿拉德的遗孀随后发表声明称，家人不希望以色列国防军士兵为了寻找他的遗体而冒生命危险。

随后，在周六晚间，以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡重申了以色列致力于寻找阿拉德以及所有失踪以色列人的决心。

“昨晚的行动并未取得我们预期的结果，”他在一份声明中表示，“但以色列以及我个人对完成所有与俘虏和失踪人员相关的任务承诺是绝对的。”

黎巴嫩国家媒体和真主党昨晚率先报道称，以色列军队试图驾驶直升机降落在真主党位于黎巴嫩-叙利亚边境附近巴勒贝克区的纳比奇特据点。

黎巴嫩国家通讯社（NNA）援引黎巴嫩卫生部的消息称，以色列对纳比奇特的袭击造成至少16人死亡，35人受伤。随后，卫生部将死亡人数更新为41人死亡，40人受伤。

真主党在一份声明中表示，其武装人员“观察到四架以色列敌军直升机从叙利亚方向渗透”。

真主党称，部队登陆后，在抵达纳比奇特公墓时与一群真主党武装分子的交火，并指出交火中使用了轻型和中型武器。

真主党声称，以色列军队在撤离部队前进行了猛烈的空袭还击，随后又表示，在以色列军队撤退期间，真主党武装分子发射了火箭弹。

社交媒体上流传的视频显示，空中枪声此起彼伏。

黎巴嫩媒体发布的另一段视频据称显示，以色列军队和直升机出现在该地区。之后发布的视频和图片似乎显示，以色列军队在当地一处公墓边缘挖了一个坑。

沙特阿拉伯媒体al-Hadath在未引用消息来源的情况下，率先报道称，此次袭击可能是为了找回阿拉德的遗骸。

周六下午，以色列国防军证实了此次突袭行动，但表示与真主党的说法相反，双方并未发生冲突，也没有向真主党支持的部队开火。

以色列国防军称，部队在纳比奇特地区展开行动，同时进行了猛烈的空袭以封锁该地区。国防军还补充说，任何靠近部队的人都会遭到攻击。

以色列国防军表示，此次行动是在纳比奇特地区昨日发布撤离令后出现的“作战机会”以及在与真主党持续交战期间获得的其他情报支持下展开的。

阿拉德的飞机于1986年10月在黎巴嫩南部坠毁，当时正值黎巴嫩1975年至1990年的内战期间。据信他最初被什叶派阿迈勒运动俘虏并关押。

长期以来，人们一直认为他已经死亡，但他的遗体从未被归还。

阿拉德的遗孀塔米在随后的声明中表示，如果搜寻失踪飞行员遗体需要采取可能危及以色列国防军士兵生命的行动，那么家属不希望搜寻行动进行。她还表示，这一请求已被决策者多次忽视。

她在脸书上写道，“我们明白，决策者此前并未理解我们的诉求，因此我们必须澄清：一旦以色列国防军士兵的生命安全受到威胁，我们探寻罗恩下落的愿望就会终止。”

她写道，“在我们看来，生命的尊严高于将战士遗骸送回安葬的承诺。对于我们40年前失踪的亲人，我们也秉持着同样的价值观。”

阿拉德写道，“我们家人曾多次声明，我们反对任何可能危及士兵安全的行动。因此，我们向以色列总理表示：我们感谢所有参与罗恩失踪案情报工作的人员。我们珍视以色列国的承诺，但我们恳请以色列政府不要开展任何可能对士兵造成哪怕是最小风险的行动。”

她写道，“40年来，我们一直生活在罗恩失踪的阴影下，我们渴望知道罗恩的下落，但并非不惜一切代价。对我们而言，生命的尊严高于对真相的执着追求。我们宁愿承受罗恩的遗骸可能在黎巴嫩的痛苦，也不愿每天早上醒来就听到以色列国防军士兵在运送遗骸的行动中受伤，甚至牺牲的消息——如果那些遗骸真的是他的的话。”

她说，“我们感谢以色列国防军士兵和安全部队，感谢所有为罗恩·阿拉德工作的人，并请求尊重我们尊重生命的请求。”

以色列方面认为，阿拉德在被阿迈勒运动组织关押一段时间后，被移交给德黑兰，并先后从黎巴嫩转移到伊朗，之后又被送回黎巴嫩。

在他被囚禁的头两年里，曾收到过一些与他有关的消息，包括照片和信件，最后一封信寄出于1988年5月5日。

自20世纪90年代中期以来，他一直被推定死亡，但关于他死亡的具体情况、时间和地点，情报报告的说法不一。

据称，阿拉德失踪后被关押在纳比奇特地区，以色列过去曾在该地区进行过搜寻，试图找到他的遗骸。

黎巴嫩当局还报告称，去年12月，一名与阿拉德被捕有关的纳比奇特退休黎巴嫩安全官员失踪。

以色列军方周六表示，将“继续日夜不懈地开展行动，坚定不移地将所有阵亡和失踪的以色列士兵带回以色列”。以色列国防军目前认定三名士兵失踪，分别是阿拉德少校、盖伊·赫弗中士和耶胡达·卡茨一级军士长。

自2024年11月以色列特种部队在黎巴嫩北部城市巴特伦抓获真主党成员伊马德·阿姆哈兹以来，周六的突袭是以色列军队深入黎巴嫩境内最远的一次行动。

据报道，此次行动正值以色列对黎巴嫩发动多次空袭并部署地面部队之际。此前，真主党于本周早些时候向以色列发射导弹，称此次袭击是对伊朗最高领袖阿里·哈梅内伊遇刺身亡的报复。

据黎巴嫩国家通讯社（NNA）报道，纳比奇特地区周五也至少遭到13次以色列空袭，黎巴嫩卫生部报告称至少有9人死亡。

Helicopter-born Israeli commandos landed deep in eastern Lebanon in an overnight raid aimed at locating the body of missing Israeli Air Force navigator Ron Arad, the military said. The raid was accompanied by heavy Israeli airstrikes that killed at least 41 people, according to local officials. There were no Israeli casualties.

The Israel Defense Forces said no findings relating to Arad were discovered during the operation in Nabi Chit. Still, the military said it could now rule out one of the possibilities regarding the location of the remains of Arad, whose plane was shot down over Lebanon 40 years ago.

Arad’s family was updated on the developments, the military said. Arad’s widow said in a statement later that the family did not want IDF soldiers’ lives to be put at risk in order to find his remains.

Subsequently, on Saturday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated Israel’s commitment to finding him and all missing Israelis.

“The operation carried out last night did not produce what we were looking for,” he says in a statement, “but the commitment of Israel, and my personal commitment, to completing all missions concerning our prisoners and missing persons is absolute.”

Lebanese state media and Hezbollah first reported overnight that Israeli troops attempted a helicopter landing in the Hezbollah stronghold of Nabi Chit in the Baalbek district near the Lebanese-Syrian border.

The state-run National News Agency (NNA), citing the Lebanese health ministry, said Israeli strikes on Nabi Chit killed at least 16 people and wounded 35 others. Later the ministry updated the toll to 41 killed and 40 wounded.

Hezbollah said in a statement that its fighters had “observed the infiltration of four Israeli enemy army helicopters from the Syrian direction.”

After landing, advancing troops “were engaged by a group” of Hezbollah fighters as they reached the Nabi Chit cemetery, Hezbollah said, noting the use of light and medium weapons.

Hezbollah claimed that Israeli forces responded with heavy airstrikes before evacuating the troops, and later said its fighters fired rockets as the Israeli forces withdrew.

Footage shared on social media showed waves of gunfire in the air.

Another video published by Lebanese media purported to show Israeli troops and helicopters in the area. Later video and pictures appeared to show a hole in the ground that the troops dug at the edge of a local cemetery.

Saudi outlet al-Hadath, without citing sources, first said the raid may have been an attempt to recover the remains of Arad.

On Saturday afternoon, the IDF confirmed the raid, but said that contrary to Hezbollah claims, there had been no clashes with the Iran-backed forces and no fire was directed at the forces.

Troops operated in Nabi Chit while heavy airstrikes were carried out to isolate the area, the IDF said, adding that anyone who approached the forces was hit.

The IDF said the operation was carried out following an “operational opportunity” that arose following an evacuation order issued in Nabi Chit yesterday, and other intelligence amid the ongoing fighting with Hezbollah.

Arad’s plane went down over southern Lebanon in October 1986, during the country’s 1975-1990 civil war. He was believed to have initially been captured and held by the Shiite Amal movement.

He has long been presumed dead, but his remains were never returned.

Arad’s widow, Tami, said in a later statement that the family does not want the body of the missing airman to be recovered if it means an operation that would put the lives of IDF soldiers at risk, saying that the request has been repeatedly ignored by decision-makers.

“We understand that our words until now have not been understood by the decision-makers and therefore it’s important for us to clarify: Our desire to know what happened to Ron stops as soon as there is risk to IDF soldiers,” she wrote on Facebook.

“In our eyes, the sanctity of life comes before the commitment to return the remains of a fighter for burial. This is our worldview also regarding our loved one who disappeared some 40 years ago,” she wrote

“We have stated as a family on more than one occasion that we oppose actions that would endanger soldiers. That’s why we say to the prime minister of Israel: We thank everyone involved in the intelligence activity concerning Ron. We value the commitment of the State of Israel, yet we request in every way possible, do not carry out operations that have even minimal risk to the troops,” Arad wrote.

“For 40 years we have lived with the fact that Ron is missing, we want to know what happened to Ron, but not at any cost. The sanctity of life comes above the closing of a circle of certainty for us. We prefer to live with the painful possibility that Ron’s bones are in Lebanon rather than wake up in the morning to the news that an IDF soldier was injured, or God forbid, killed, in an operation to bring back his remains, if indeed they are his,” she wrote

“We thank the IDF soldiers and security forces and appreciate those who worked for Ron, and we ask that our request to sanctify life be honored,” she said.

Israel believes that after being held for a period by the Amal group, Arad was handed over to Tehran, and was moved from Lebanon to Iran and then back again.

Several signs of life were received in the first two years of his incarceration, including photos and letters, the last of which was sent on May 5, 1988.

He has been presumed dead since the mid-1990s, although intelligence reports have differed as to the circumstances, timing and location of his death.

Arad was allegedly held in the Nabi Chit area following his disappearance, and Israel has conducted searches in the area in the past in efforts to locate his remains.

Lebanese authorities also reported that in December, a retired Lebanese security officer from Nabi Chit who had ties to Arad’s capture disappeared.

The military said Saturday that it would “continue to operate tirelessly, day and night, out of a deep commitment to bringing all our sons, the fallen and the missing, back home to Israel.” Three soldiers are considered missing by the IDF — Maj. Arad, Staff Sgt. Guy Hever and Sgt. First Class Yehuda Katz.

The Saturday raid was the deepest Israeli forces have reached inside Lebanon since special unit troops apprehended Hezbollah operative Imad Amhaz from the northern city of Batroun in November 2024.

The reported operation came as Israel carried out numerous strikes and deployed ground forces into Lebanon after Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel earlier this week, saying the attack was in retaliation for the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Nabi Chit was also the target of at least 13 Israeli airstrikes on Friday, according to the NNA, with the Lebanese health ministry reporting at least nine people killed.