Lebanon claims Israeli ‘spying device’ exploded

Hezbollah claims two Lebanese citizens were wounded by an Israeli espionage device that exploded.

By: Atara Beck, World Israel News

Lebanese media reported on Tuesday that Israel has detonated an unidentified “spying device” inside Lebanon.

The reports say two people were lightly wounded Tuesday when Israel blew up a spy device planted on the Marjeyoun Plain road in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s state news agency reported that the two men were working in the area of the blast, “which is several kilometers away from the border with the Israeli town of Metulla.”

“The army and security forces immediately arrived on the scene and cordoned off the area and the two sides of the road to preserve the safety of citizens,” the report added.

“A probe was launched after the blown up device was extracted,” the agency said.

Hezbollah‘s al-Manar television said the blast was caused by two explosive devices that were connected to the spy device.

Israel media reports that the device may have been a remote listening post. The charges may have been a self-destructing mechanism.

Several similar devices were allegedly discovered in the South in recent years, some of them with explosive charges.

Lebanese security forces announced in November that they have arrested an Israeli spying ring operating inside Lebanon. The eight-man ring was comprised of seven Lebanese nationals and one Syrian.

In September, Hezbollah military expert Hussein Haidar was killed. Hezbollah claims that an Israeli drone remotely detonated a spy device he was dismantling in the southern coastal town of Adloun when he was killed.

Since 2009, Lebanese forces have arrested over 100 suspects who were allegedly spying for Israel.