[News] Lebanon busts ‘extensive, dangerous’ Israeli spy network in Beirut

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 Lebanon busts ‘extensive, dangerous’ Israeli spy network in Beirut

Two individuals who were detained in late December were found in possession
of ‘highly advanced’ espionage equipment

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

MAR 21, 2024 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/lebanon-busts-extensive-dangerous-israeli-spy-network-in-beirut
(Photo credit: Haitham al-Moussawi)

An extensive Israeli espionage network in Lebanon’s capital was discovered
last year by authorities in the country, Lebanese newspaper *Al-Akhbar*
<https://www.al-akhbar.com/Politics/378969/%D9%85%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B9-%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AD%D9%8A-%D9%8A%D9%83%D8%B4%D9%81-%D8%A3%D8%AE%D8%B7%D8%B1-%D8%B4%D8%A8%D9%83%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A9-%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%8A>reported
on 21 March.

According to the report, parliamentary guards spotted a “suspicious”
vehicle circling the residence of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain
al-Tineh in late December.

After the car was stopped, an individual by the name of Muhieddine H. – who
had been driving the vehicle – was detained when a “highly advanced”
espionage device and several mobile phones were found in his possession.

Following their inspection, “dozens of videos of what appeared to be a
comprehensive [mapping] of the area.” The individual was then handed over
to the Information Branch of Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces (ISF),
where it was determined that there was a “suspicion of dealing with the
[Israeli] enemy” in a “dangerous” and “unprecedented” manner.

The report states that Muhieddine H received $200,000, an unusually high
sum for small-scale espionage missions, “indicating the seriousness” of
this particular job.

The report identified the second detainee as Hadi A, who had been working
with Muhieddine H. Both are experts in computer and communications
engineering.

*Al-Akhbar* adds that the two provided the name of a fake US company,
Monolith – most likely a front for Israeli intelligence – claiming to have
been contracted by it. It said they had gathered intelligence on several
areas in Beirut and its southern suburbs, “complementing” the intelligence
gathered by Israeli aircraft hovering over Lebanon and its capital every
day.

They were tasked with “precise mapping” of numerous areas, which* Al-Akhbar*
says was “provided [to] the enemy.”

This mapping detailed streets, buildings, shop names, parked and moving
cars, license plate numbers, and passers-by's faces, including 56,000
high-resolution photos found on Muhieddine H’s phone. The two detainees
used highly advanced technological equipment, a system for scanning radio
frequencies related to internet service providers, and the location of
“access points” in homes, institutions, and public places.

As a result, the two detainees obtained the names and passwords of each
Wi-Fi device in the areas surveyed, allowing them to determine the precise
geographical location of connected users.

It was revealed in the report that one of the suspects mapped the street
facing the apartment of Saleh al-Arouri
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/17481> – the top Hamas official who was
assassinated in an Israeli drone strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs on 2
January – two weeks before the targeted killing.

In front of the investigating judge, the detainees denied prior knowledge
that the company that contracted them could be linked to Israeli
intelligence. Despite this, one of the detainees admitted he was suspicious
of the job he was given, which he said could only benefit a foreign
intelligence agency.

Judge Fadi Sawan interrogated them and issued two preliminary arrest
warrants after Judge Fadi Akiki's initial accusation of “committing crimes
of espionage for the benefit of a foreign country and obtaining information
that must remain secret to ensure the integrity of the state, as well as
harming the national security of the homeland” – the penalty of which is a
life sentence.

According to *Al-Akhbar*, no online traces were found of Monolith, and
there was no information online about its alleged CEO, John Tyler.

Following initial investigations, the detainees said the company was
developing digital mapping for “virtual tourism.” The directors of Monolith
proposed projects to Muhieddine H for his company, Akorn, to update maps in
Sri Lanka, Laos, Turkey, Egypt, Guinea, and Lebanon, he admitted, adding
that his company was near bankruptcy and needed the money. He claimed that
he did not know how the information would be used.

The digital mapping and scanning project he was tasked with in Lebanon
between 2021 and 2023 was also revealed to have been carried out without a
license.

The *Al-Akhbar* report comes after several recent security incidents in
Lebanon <https://thecradle.co/articles-id/23795>.

In late February, Lebanon’s resistance Hezbollah arrested
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/23709> six Dutch nationals in the
southern suburbs of Beirut, who were found with military-grade weapons and
advanced equipment.

That week, Hezbollah also detained a Spanish national in the Al-Kafaat area
in Beirut’s southern suburbs. He was found filming and taking pictures with
his mobile phone, for which he claimed to have been lost and needed to
share location information with his friends to pick him up.

During the interrogation, it was discovered that his phone contained an
advanced program preventing access to the stored data.

The arrests came as part of added measures by Hezbollah security officials
in response to increased Israeli and foreign intelligence efforts to
collect information pursuing the assassination of Hezbollah cadres.
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