© Zazzle/Pxfuel/KJN
Lebanese security forces arrest 5 Israeli spies, according to Arabic media
Three men have been arrested by Lebanon's Internal Security Forces in the town of Ghazieh following raids on two houses there, and
two more have been picked up in the towns of Qana and Bint Jbeil, the Arabic publication
Elnashra reported on Thursday.
All are suspected of spying for Mossad and reportedly hail from the town of Beresheet.The men allegedly provided critical information and communicated with their employer through encrypted online messaging, according to information supposedly obtained through interrogation.
The report on their capture also described how they were
paid through the receipt of "dead letter drops" - packages placed for them in remote areas they were notified about through online messages. The Lebanese military prosecution has reportedly brought in the Information Branch intelligence unit to find out if there were others involved in the spy ring, or whether the members worked with other people involved with espionage.
Last month, Lebanese security forces reportedly
captured another man suspected of spying, of facilitating the entry of other Israeli spies into the country, and even of conducting targeted killing operations for Mossad. According to Arabic newspaper
al-Akhbar, he was not associated with the
17 Israeli spy networks recently busted in Lebanon, one of the largest crackdowns on such activity since 2009. The spy rings, which allegedly operated independently of one another, were apparently responsible for
collecting information on both Hezbollah and Palestinian groups in Lebanon.
Comment: Deflection is standard US policy: Cause without responsibility; blame without justification.