Lebanese military accused of leaking secrets to Hezbollah

Israel-Lebanon ceasefire jeopardized after senior Lebanese army intelligence official reportedly handed over classified information from US, French peacekeeping committee to Hezbollah terror organization.

By World Israel News Staff

A senior Lebanese army official leaked military secrets from a joint American-French peacekeeping mission to the Hezbollah terror organization, according to a report by Britain’s The Times on Sunday.

As part of the ceasefire deal between Israel, Lebanon, and Hezbollah, signed in late November 2024, the U.S. and France formed a joint observer mission with the United Nations to ensure implementation of the ceasefire deal and investigate claims of violations.

Citing unnamed intelligence sources, Sunday’s report claimed that Suhil Bahij Gharb, the chief of the Lebanese army’s intel division for southern Lebanon, handed Hezbollah a dossier taken from the security control room of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) used by France and the U.S. to monitor the ongoing ceasefire.

The incident was reported just hours after the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon was originally slated to be completed.

Israel delayed the pullout, however, citing both Hezbollah’s continued presence south of the Litani River – in violation of the ceasefire deal – and the failure of the Lebanese army to assume security control over areas ostensibly under control by the government in Beirut.

Later on Sunday, the White House confirmed that the withdrawal has been delayed, setting a new deadline of February 18.

At least 22 people were killed during clashes between Lebanese rioters and Israeli troops across southern Lebanon Sunday as thousands of civilians and soldiers approached towns still under Israeli security control.

Many of the rioters waved Hezbollah flags, leading to accusations that the confrontations were instigated by the terror group.

According to Sunday’s report, Gharb, a member of Lebanon’s Shi’ite minority, was not the only senior Lebanese army official to leak security information to Hezbollah. Dozens of other officers reportedly handed over sensitive material to the pro-Iranian terror group, giving Hezbollah advanced knowledge of impending raids and thus enabling its operatives to move weapons caches.

“Hezbollah use internal, sensitive information regarding the Lebanese army to hide its actions from the international entities in charge of regional security,” a security document cited by Sunday’s report claims.

“More than one member of the Lebanese army is leaking information to Hezbollah,” Hilal Khashan, a political science professor at the American University of Beirut said. “The fact that the top echelon of the military maintains close ties with the US does not prevent co-operation between army officers, even on an individual basis, with Hezbollah.”

The Lebanese military and UNIFIL both declined to comment on the report.