<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-inner-article-top"><h1 class="gmail-">Lebanon busts ‘extensive, dangerous’ Israeli spy network in Beirut </h1><p class="gmail-">Two individuals who were detained in late December were found in possession of ‘highly advanced’ espionage equipment </p><div class="gmail-another-name"><p><a href="https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9" style="color:rgb(164,4,4)">News Desk</a></p></div><div class="gmail-another-name" style="margin-top:16px"><p><span>MAR 21, 2024 - </span><font size="1"><a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/lebanon-busts-extensive-dangerous-israeli-spy-network-in-beirut">https://thecradle.co/articles/lebanon-busts-extensive-dangerous-israeli-spy-network-in-beirut</a></font></p></div></div><div class="gmail-inner-article-img"><img src="http://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles/db6f2208-e79e-11ee-98eb-00163e02c055.webp" alt="" width="395" height="222" style="margin-right: 0px;"><span>(Photo credit: Haitham al-Moussawi)</span></div><div class="gmail-inner-article-content"><div class="gmail-row"><div class="gmail-col-md-8 gmail-col-sm-7"><div class="gmail-article-content"><span><p>An
extensive Israeli espionage network in Lebanon’s capital was discovered
last year by authorities in the country, Lebanese newspaper <a href="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"><i>Al-Akhbar</i> </a>reported on 21 March. </p><p>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.</p><p>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. </p><p>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. </p><p>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. </p><p>The report identified the second detainee as Hadi A, who had
been working with Muhieddine H. Both are experts in computer and
communications engineering. </p><p><i>Al-Akhbar</i> 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. </p><p>They were tasked with “precise mapping” of numerous areas, which<i> Al-Akhbar</i> says was “provided [to] the enemy.” </p><p>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. </p><p>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.</p><p>It was revealed in the report that one of the suspects mapped the street facing the apartment of <a href="https://thecradle.co/articles-id/17481">Saleh al-Arouri</a>
– 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. </p><p>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. </p><p>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. </p><p>According to <i>Al-Akhbar</i>, no online traces were found of Monolith, and there was no information online about its alleged CEO, John Tyler.</p><p>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.</p><p>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. </p><p>The <i>Al-Akhbar</i> report comes after several recent security incidents in<a href="https://thecradle.co/articles-id/23795"> Lebanon</a>. </p><p>In late February, Lebanon’s resistance Hezbollah <a href="https://thecradle.co/articles-id/23709">arrested</a> six Dutch nationals in the southern suburbs of Beirut, who were found with military-grade weapons and advanced equipment. </p><p>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. </p><p>During the interrogation, it was discovered that his phone contained an advanced program preventing access to the stored data.</p><p>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. </p></span></div></div></div></div>
</div>