Hezbollah detects Israeli spying device on Lebanese border

The Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement announced yesterday that it had found an Israeli espionage device in the southern Lebanese territory, the group-affiliated Al-Manar TV reported.

The device was found on the strategic heights of Barouk Mountain, overlooking the village of Saghbine and the Lake Qaroun located in Lebanon’s western Bekaa Valley.

The group’s media bureau noted that the device was remotely exploded by Israel some time ago “out of fear it would be discovered,” and that its rubble pieces were scattered throughout the area.

The device, which had been installed to gather information about the villages of the western Bekaa Valley, was encased in fiberglass and disguised as a rock, adding that it was powered by electric solar panels, according to Al-Manar.

Officials of the resistance movement perceived the discovery as part of the ongoing Israeli offensive attacks on Lebanon’s communications system, stressing that it is a violating the country’s sovereignty as well as undermining its security.

It is not the first time for the resistance group to thwart such Israeli spying attempts. In 2014, they claimed an Israeli army drone blew up a spying device after it was uncovered near the southern Lebanese city of Tyre. One person was killed in that incident, according to Lebanese reports.

Last May, Lebanon’s official state media announced that an Iraqi man spying for Israel had been arrested. He allegedly admitted that he was asked by Israel to provide information on the Lebanese army and Lebanese government officials, as well as to enlist other operatives to setup a spy network in Lebanon.

Israel has continued to use offensive tactics aimed at creating chaos in Lebanon. It has planted devices not just on Hezbollah’s civil telecommunication networks, but also on its military ones.