A retired Lebanese General Security Directorate officer, Ahmed Shukr, disappeared in December after meeting a man who claimed to have a buyer for his land in Zahle. His family and Lebanese officials believe he was abducted in a covert operation and taken to Israel in an effort to gather information about Israeli navigator Ron Arad, who vanished in Lebanon in 1986. Shukr’s relatives insist he had no role in Arad’s disappearance and was never involved in militant activity.

The disappearance gained renewed attention after Israeli commandos carried out a deadly operation in the Lebanese town of Nabi Chit, digging in the Shukr family cemetery in search of Arad’s remains. Clashes with fighters and airstrikes left 41 people dead, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. The Israeli military said the mission sought evidence of Arad’s fate but did not confirm taking Shukr.

Lebanese judicial officials have charged four people in connection with Shukr’s suspected kidnapping, saying vehicles and a villa were rented as part of the operation. Human rights advocates described the case as a possible cross-border abduction without due process. While some accounts suggest Shukr’s late brother may have had links to the group that once held Arad, his family maintains Ahmed Shukr had no knowledge of the Israeli airman’s fate.