Lebanese newspaper claims 20 arrested for giving critical intelligence to Israel.
By World Israel News Staff
A Hezbollah-controlled Lebanese newspaper reported Monday that the country’s security forces had busted some 15 “Israeli spy networks” operating throughout Lebanon in one of the nation’s “biggest security operations.”
Al-Akhbar reported that the networks, which were allegedly gathering and monitoring intelligence about Hezbollah and various Palestinian groups on behalf of the Jewish State, had recently come under the radar of the Lebanese Internal Security Forces Directorate.
According to the Al-Akhbar report, the Internal Security Forces Directorate revealed that one of its own most senior officials was a mole feeding critical information to Israel.
A respected member of Hezbollah who said he was working for a United Nations-supported NGO was also found to be spying for Israel, the Arabic daily said.
Some 35 people were called in for questioning, with 20 arrested. Those arrested included Syrian and Lebanese nationals, along with Palestinians.
The alleged spies belonged to a number of different faiths, including Sunni and Shia Muslims, Druze, and Christians.
An unknown number of people working for NGOs based in Beirut were also arrested on charges of espionage on behalf of Israel.
The spy network was reportedly operating in a very modern way, recruiting potential operatives via social media.
Israel is leveraging Lebanon’s current economic crisis by offering generous cash rewards for intelligence, the report said.
The report has not been supported nor confirmed by any other media or sources.
The family of one of the alleged spies called the claims “slander.” The parents told Al-Akhbar that their son was “a coward who is afraid of his shadow” and the claim that he worked as an agent is preposterous.
Earlier in January, Israeli security agencies arrested five Israelis, charging that they had spied on behalf of Iran. All are Persian-speaking Jews either from Iran or descendants of Iranian immigrants.