Hassan Nasrallah had no idea that one day his name would get him into so much trouble. He definitely did not think that one day it would be the cause for Israeli commandoes to drop in on his house and snatch him and several members of his family. Nasrallah was briefly held by Israel, along with two members of his family and three neighbors. Unfortunately for Israel, he was Hassan Deeb Nasrallah, local shop keeper, not Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, head of Lebanon’s Hizbullah resistance group.

Israel snatched the Nasrallahs and their neighbors on August 1 in a commando raid on the Hizbullah stronghold of Baalbek in northeastern Lebanon, apparently believing they were related to Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and could be used to pressure the Hizbullah leader, according to Leah Tzemel, the Israeli attorney who obtained their release Monday.

“He [the shop keeper] was brought here and interrogated and very quickly they understood that they were taken for no reason,” Tzemel said. “Then they [the Israeli authorities] just put them in jail and held them.”

The Israeli military made no immediate comment.

Relating his version of the abduction to The Daily Star, Hassan Deeb Nasrallah said people’s exodus from Baalbek, especially from the Osseira neighborhood where he lived, made him and several neighbors determined to stay at home, after news spread about thefts there.

“We feared for our properties and homes, so we stayed to protect them,” he said.

Nasrallah, who was captured with his two sons Mohammad and Bilal and neighbors Mohammad Shukr, Ahmad Awta and Hassan Borji, estimated the number of Israeli commando forces at more than 500 elements.

He said they used four vehicles after their airdrop on more than one site.

“After handcuffing us, we walked for a long distance in the highlands,” said, adding that sometimes they would rest before resuming their walk. The prisoners wore only slippers.

“After a while, they released my 13-year-old Mohammad, which frightened me because? of wild animals even though he knew the area,” Nasrallah said.

“Finally, a plane arrived and transported us to the Palestinian territories where we were blindfolded and where the questioning started from the break of dawn until the late hours of dusk,” he added.

The questioning focused on Hizbullah, the resistance members, and the prisoners’ possible relation to the group.

“I told them not every Shiite is member of Hizbullah, there is also the Amal Movement and independent Shiite groups,” Nasrallah said.

The released prisoner said Bilal was accused of being the son of Hizbullah’s leader, which he denied, arguing that his father owned a mini market.

“In the following days, the questioning became more frequent and with higher-ranking officials,” Nasrallah added, saying he did not know where the prison was located but guessed it was between the areas of Affoula and Nazareth.

Nasrallah and the others were informed of their release three hours after the decision was taken and denied having suffered any physical torture.

“The lawyer [Tzemel] told us they only wanted to use us for propaganda about the arrest of [Hizbullah’s leader] Hassan Nasrallah,” Nasrallah said.

By Monday afternoon, the Nasrallahs and their neighbor were taken to a gymnasium, photographed, medically examined and handed in to the International Committee of the Red Cross who gave them clothes, shoes and towels before referring them to the Lebanese Army.

Nasrallah said he had no regrets at bearing the same name as the Hizbullah leader because he “achieved victory for the country and the nation,” but expressed indignation at being interrogated by the Lebanese Army before receiving authorization to go home.

TDS