Syria did not immediately confirm the announcement.

Israel has carried out airstrikes in Syria multiple times over the past year, targeting members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah and officials from Iran, including many civilians. But it has not previously made public any ground forays into Syria.

The Israeli military said the seizure was part of a special operation “that took place in recent months,” though it did not say exactly when it occurred.

The disclosure of the raid comes as Israel has waged an escalated campaign of bombardment in Lebanon for the past six weeks, as well as a ground invasion along the countries' shared border.

On Saturday, an Israeli military official said naval forces carried out a raid in a northern Lebanese town, seizing a man they claimed was a senior Hezbollah operative.

The army in its statement Sunday did not specify where in Syria the raid took place or when. It identified the man it seized as Ali Soleiman al-Assi, saying he lives in the southern Syrian region of Saida.

It claimed the man had been under military surveillance for many months and was involved in Iranian initiatives targeting areas of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights near the border with Syria.

Body camera footage of the raid released by the army showed soldiers seizing a man in a white tank top inside a building. The man was brought to Israel for interrogation, the military said.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online.