Israeli Troops Free Lebanese Shepherd a Day after his Abduction

Israeli troops handed a Lebanese shepherd over to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon a day after kidnapping him, the National News Agency reported on Thursday.

NNA reported that UNIFIL handed over Lebanese shepherd Ismail Khalil Nabaa, who was abducted by the Israeli army, over to the Lebanese security forces through the Naqoura crossing.

The army later said in a communique that Nabaa was released after a series of contacts between the military and the UNIFIL command.

“The shepherd was handed over at 10:50 pm to the intelligence directorate in Ras al-Naqoura,” the statement noted.

On Wednesday, the Lebanese army said that an Israeli infantry unit kidnapped the shepherd from the southern border town of Shebaa.

Nabaa was kidnapped and taken to the occupied Shebaa Farms area at dawn Wednesday.

On Tuesday, an Israeli force seized a goat flock that belongs to shepherds Mohammed Khalil Nabaa and Khodr Hamdan from the Sadana mountain heights in Shebaa.

The flock was taken to the Shebaa Farms but the shepherds managed to escape.

The Shebaa Farms, a mountainous sliver of land rich in water resources measuring 25 square kilometers, is located at the junction of southeast Lebanon, southwest Syria and northern Israel.

The area has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East war and caught in a tug-of-war over ownership ever since.

Israel has previously detained Lebanese civilians in the disputed border region.

H.K.

M.T.