Israeli forces detained Atwi Atwi, a local official of Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, in Hebbarieh near the Hasbaya district and transferred him to Israel for questioning, Lebanese state media and the Israeli military said. The Islamic Group condemned the arrest and urged Lebanese authorities to secure his release. Earlier the same day, an Israeli drone strike in Yanouh killed three people, including a child, with Israel making no immediate comment. The report places these events in the broader context of continued tensions since the 2023 Israel–Hamas war and the subsequent Israel–Hezbollah fighting.
Israeli Forces Seize Sunni Islamist Official Linked to Hamas Near Lebanon Border
People gather as Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam tours areas in southern Lebanon along the border with Israel that the Lebanese army says it has been cleared of the armed presence of the militant Hezbollah group, in the village of Yarine, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Israeli forces carried out an early-morning operation in southern Lebanon, detaining a local official from the Sunni Islamist group Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya and transferring him to Israel for questioning, Lebanese state media and the Israeli military reported.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) identified the detainee as Atwi Atwi, saying he was taken in the village of Hebbarieh in the Hasbaya district, near the Israeli border. The Israeli military said troops apprehended an Islamic Group official in a “targeted intelligence-based operation” but did not release the suspect’s name.
Also on Monday an Israeli drone struck a car in the southern Lebanese village of Yanouh, killing three people, including a child, the NNA reported. Israel had no immediate comment on the strike.
The Islamic Group condemned the seizure as part of what it described as Israel’s routine attacks and violations of Lebanese sovereignty, and urged Lebanese authorities to press for Atwi’s release.
Background: Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya (the Islamic Group) is widely described as the Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and maintains an armed wing known as the Fajr Forces. After the outbreak of the Israel–Hamas war in October 2023, the Fajr Forces said they coordinated with the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah and launched rockets across the border in claimed support for Hamas in Gaza.
Hezbollah began firing at Israel on Oct. 8, 2023 — a day after Hamas’ attack on southern Israel — which escalated into a wider Israel–Hezbollah conflict. That fighting later subsided with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in 2024, but Israeli officials say nearly daily airstrikes and ground incursions into Lebanon have continued at times to target Hezbollah positions and other threats.
The Israel–Hezbollah fighting has taken a heavy toll: more than 4,000 people were killed in Lebanon, including hundreds of civilians, and the World Bank estimates roughly $11 billion in damage. In Israel, 127 people died, including about 80 soldiers.
Developments along the Lebanon–Israel frontier remain sensitive and fluid. Independent verification of some claims is limited; international and regional actors continue to call for restraint while investigations into cross-border strikes and detentions proceed.
Help us improve.
