From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, September 12, 2023
Hezbollah says it arrested man suspected of spying for Israel
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleGianluca Pacchiani is the Arab affairs reporter for The Times of Israel
The Hezbollah security forces have arrested a man suspected of spying for Israel, according to a report published in the Lebanese news outlet Al Jadeed.
The man, only identified by his initials M.T.D, is in his thirties and comes from the town of Majdal Zoun, in the Tyre district in southern Lebanon, but according to village residents lives in Germany.
The report published yesterday says he comes to Lebanon periodically, rents apartments and cars in the Tyre area, uses unregistered phone numbers, and provides coordinates of specific sites to his Israeli contacts.
The man was reportedly arrested upon his arrival at Beirut airport by Hezbollah security agents.
On August 25, Lebanese authorities said they arrested a couple at Beirut airport as they were trying to flee the country, who reportedly confessed they were spying for Israel inside the country.
Such claims are made regularly, but their veracity cannot be established. Lebanese security services have arrested dozens of people over the years on suspicions of collaborating with Israel, with some receiving jail terms of up to 25 years.
Israel never comments on such allegations.
The Times of Israel Community.