Azzaam el-Salame was a Lebanese Hezbollah commander. In 2023, his car was stopped by Israeli Mista'arvim operatives disguised as Lebanese policemen on the Beirut-Damascus Highway as Salame served as a decoy for Haj Ali's convoy (which was taking the captive Shin Bet captain Gabi Ayub to a Syrian airfield to be flown to Iran). Salame saw through the Israelis' ruse, as, when they identified themselves as Unit 33 of the Beirut Police, Salame said that he knew their commander, and he intended to wait at the roadblock until their commander arrived. The Israelis were forced to kill Salame's bodyguards and torture him for Haj Ali's location. While Salame withstood the torture, the captive Omar Tawalbe suggested that the Israelis could bomb the homes of Salame's family members in Maroun al-Ras, leading a desperate Salame to reveal that Haj Ali intended to use the Qalamoun border crossing.