BEIRUT, Lebanon, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- An Israeli force early Monday kidnapped an official with the "Jamaa al Islamiya," a Lebanese Sunni group and an ally of the Palestinian militant movement Hamas, while three people, including a child, were killed in separate Israeli attacks.
Israeli soldiers infiltrated the village of Hebbariyeh in southern Lebanon about 3 miles north of the Israeli border shortly after midnight and "abducted" the group's official, Atwi Atwi, from his home, according to a statement by "Jamaa al Islamiya."
The statement said Atwi was taken to "an unknown location after his family was terrorized and assaulted." It condemned the kidnapping and held the Israeli occupying forces responsible for his safety.
The group said the abduction was part of a campaign to "terrorize local residents and force them to abandon their villages and land," and called for Atwi's release.
An Israeli Army spokesman confirmed that Israeli soldiers carried out an intelligence-led raid on a building inside Lebanese territory, and arrested a senior Jamaa Islamiya official, who was taken to Israel for "further questioning."
