Israeli forces capture senior Hezbollah operative in north Lebanon, Israeli military official says

BATROUN, Lebanon (AP) — Israeli naval forces captured a senior Hezbollah operative in north Lebanon, an Israeli military official said Saturday, as the conflict between the Iran-backed group and Israel showed few signs of easing.

Earlier on Saturday, Lebanese authorities said it was investigating whether Israel was behind the capture of a Lebanese sea captain who was taken away by a group of armed men who had landed on the coast near the northern town of Batroun on Friday.

“The operative has been transferred to Israeli territory and is currently being investigated,” the military official said, without providing the name of the person in detention.

The operation marks the first time Israel has announced it deployed troops deep into northern Lebanon to take a senior Hezbollah operative captive since the conflict between the two sides escalated in late September. Since then, Israeli forces began a ground invasion of southern Lebanon and intensified its airstrikes across the country, including southern Beirut and the eastern Bekaa valley, killing most of Hezbollah's senior commanders.

Hezbollah issued a statement describing what happened as a “Zionist aggression in the Batroun area.” The statement did not give details or confirm whether a Hezbollah member was captured by Israel.

Two Lebanese military officials confirmed to The Associated Press that a naval force landed in Batroun, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of Beirut, and abducted a Lebanese citizen. Neither gave the man’s identity or said whether he was thought to have links to Lebanon’s Hezbollah group. They did not confirm whether the armed men were an Israeli force.

Three Lebanese judicial officials told AP the operation took place at dawn Friday, adding that the captain might have links with Hezbollah. The officials said an investigation is looking into whether the man is linked to Hezbollah or working for an Israeli spy agency and an Israeli force came to rescue him.

Both the military and judicial officials spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were unauthorized to share details about the incident or the ongoing investigation.

Soon after Israel went public about the operation, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on Lebanon’s foreign minister to file a complaint against Israel at the U.N. Security Council.

Israel has carried out in the past commando operations deep inside Lebanon to kidnap or kill Hezbollah and Palestinian officials.

Recounting the event, Lebanese residents from the apartment building where the man was seized said the armed group introduced themselves as state security.

“We were terrified. They were breaking into the apartment next to ours,” Hussein Delbani told The Associated Press near where the man was captured. “I thought a state agency was doing a security operation,” said Delbani, who was displaced from south Lebanon a month ago when the Israel-Hezbollah war erupted.

He said he saw from his balcony people down on the coast and they screamed again for him to go inside.

Hamie told Al-Jadeed the man was a captain of civilian ships. He graduated in 2022 and in late September joined the Batroun's Maritime Sciences and Technology Institute for additional courses. Hamie said that the man lived some 300 meters (980 feet) from the institute.

Hamie's remarks came shortly after two Lebanese journalists posted a video on social media showing what appeared to be about 20 armed men taking away a man from in front a house, his face covered with his shirt.

Kandice Ardiel, a spokesperson for the U.N. peacekeeping force deployed in south Lebanon, denied allegations by some local journalists who said that the peacekeepers helped the landing force in the operation. The U.N. mission, known as UNIFIL, has a maritime force that monitors the coast.

"Disinformation and false rumors are irresponsible and put peacekeepers at risk,” Ardiel said.

Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones and missiles from Lebanon into Israel in solidarity with Hamas immediately after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which triggered the war in Gaza. The yearlong cross-border fighting boiled over to full-blown war on Oct. 1, when Israeli forces launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon for the first time since 2006.

Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Sally Abou Aljoud in Beirut and Natalie Melzer in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

A building, left, in Batroun, northern Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, where Lebanese officials say a ship captain was taken away by a group of armed men who landed on a coast north of Beirut and they're investigating whether Israel was involved. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Lebanese fishermen cast their fishing rods at a beach in Batroun, northern Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, where Lebanese officials say a ship captain was taken away by a group of armed men who landed on a coast north of Beirut and they're investigating whether Israel was involved. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Lebanese fishermen cast their fishing rods at a beach in Batroun, northern Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, where Lebanese officials say a ship captain was taken away by a group of armed men who landed on a coast north of Beirut and they're investigating whether Israel was involved. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Lebanese fishermen cast their fishing rods at a beach in Batroun, northern Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, where Lebanese officials say a ship captain was taken away by a group of armed men who landed on a coast north of Beirut and they're investigating whether Israel was involved. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Residents ride a golf cart, as they pass in front of a building in Batroun, northern Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, where Lebanese officials say a ship captain was taken away by a group of armed men who landed on a coast north of Beirut and they're investigating whether Israel was involved. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Lebanese authorities seal a studio door in a building in Batroun, northern Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, where Lebanese officials say a ship captain was taken away by a group of armed men who landed on a coast north of Beirut and they're investigating whether Israel was involved. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Residents stand on the balcony of a building in Batroun, northern Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, where Lebanese officials say a ship captain was taken away by a group of armed men who landed on a coast north of Beirut and they're investigating whether Israel was involved. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Residents stand at the entrance of a building in Batroun, northern Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, where Lebanese officials say a ship captain was taken away by a group of armed men who landed on a coast north of Beirut and they're investigating whether Israel was involved. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A Lebanese man points to the beach in Batroun, northern Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, where Lebanese officials say a group of armed men landed on a coast north of Beirut and took away a ship captain and they're investigating whether Israel was involved. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

ATLANTA (AP) — Kamala Harris on Saturday criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson for suggesting that Republicans might cut government subsidies for semiconductor manufacturing as she and Republican Donald Trump embarked on one last weekend quest to round up every possible vote in the battleground states that will determine the next president.

“It is my plan and intention to continue to invest in American manufacturing,” the Democratic nominee told reporters in Milwaukee, adding that Trump had lost manufacturing jobs during his presidency.

Harris spoke before heading to campaign rallies in Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina. Trump was attending two rallies in North Carolina and one in Salem, Virginia, a state that isn't a battleground, after his late-night rally in Milwaukee.

“We stand on the verge of the four greatest years in American history,” Trump said in remarks released by his campaign before his first event, in Gastonia, North Carolina.

President Joe Biden, who dropped out of the race this summer when it became clear he could not win, was doing his part for the Democrats, making one last 2024 campaign stop in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Harris’ campaign released her closing ad pitch to the American people, a two-minute spot set to air Sunday during NFL games broadcast by CBS and FOX, including the Green Bay Packers against the Detroit Lions. The ad shows some of Harris' interactions with people during the campaign and has her looking directly into the camera and addressing voters.

“Now I'm asking for your vote because as president I will get up every day and fight for the American people,” she says at the end.

Campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon projected confidence on a conference call with reporters Saturday as both sides entered in the final sprint to get out the vote. “If you can hear the joy in my voice it is because we are in GOTV weekend,” she said.

Johnson, R-La., later walked back his comments about cutting semiconductor subsidies, indicating he only meant that Republicans would “streamline” the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act. But Harris said Johnson had only issued the follow-up statement because “their agenda is not popular.”

The legislation has pumped billions of dollars into producing computer chips in the United States, supporting union jobs in battleground states such as Michigan.

The vice presidential nominees and big name supporters also were out in force.

Harris' running mate, Tim Walz, and actress Eva Longoria were joining a get-out-the-vote event in Las Vegas before the Minnesota governor flies to Arizona for events in Flagstaff and Tucson. GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance was scheduled to be in Las Vegas and Scottsdale, Arizona, for events with Donald Trump Jr. First lady Jill Biden was campaigning in Georgia and Hillary Clinton was appearing in Tampa, Florida, to back Harris' candidacy.

The Trump and Harris planes parked near each other overnight at the Milwaukee airport and the candidates spent the night at hotels just three blocks apart. Before Harris had even left Milwaukee, supporters were lined up for her rally in Atlanta.

Marzella and Darrell Pittman, who found out about the Atlanta rally on Friday, canceled their weekend plans and drove four hours from Alabama to attend.

Marzella thinks Harris will win, but Darrell is nervous because many of the young Black men in his life support Trump and are hesitatant to vote for a woman for president.

“It’s tight, and the other side, they got a lot of our people believing in that side, just like we believe in Kamala,” he said.

Until the election, “we have nothing but voting on our mind and we’re talking to everybody,” Marzella Pittman said.

There is “so much on the line” and “no way we can let this slip away,” Darrell Pittman said.

Carol Hicks, who drives around with a stack of Harris signs in her back seat, she said was optimistic because she has “die-hard Republican coworkers” who voted for Harris because they could not stomach voting for Trump. Some people in her life are undecided because they do not want to vote for a woman, but she tells them “only weak men can’t stand a strong woman.

Trump supporters were equally passionate about their candidate.

Nick Chakur, 68, a retired policeman from Center Line, Michigan, who attended a Friday night rally in nearby Warren, said he was cautiously optimistic about Trump’s chances, but said it depends on voter turnout.

“Just like sports, you gotta keep going until the whistle stops,” he said.

Stephanie Tanzini, 77, wore a bedazzled denim American flag baseball hat to the same rally.

Tanzini said she plans to be up “24/7″ waiting for the results on election night — enjoying chips, dip and pie while the results roll in — with a bowl of marshmallows on hand to throw in celebration.

“Because Trump’s going to win this by a landslide,” she said.

Colvin reported from Gastonia, North Carolina. Associated Press writers Chris Megerian in Washington, Charlotte Kramon in Atlanta and Isabella Volmert in Warren, Michigan, contributed to this report.

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