A historical weapon of occupation.. How does Israel use "spies" in its war on Lebanon?

The issue of collaboration has dominated the scene in Lebanon, in light of the heavy losses suffered by Hezbollah and its prominent leadership figures, led by the assassination of Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on September 27.

The Lebanese security forces recently uncovered a wide network of Israeli spies of different nationalities, who were providing the occupation with coordinates and data about sites that constitute an incubator environment for Hezbollah.

In its wars on Lebanon, Israel has always relied on a powerful weapon in the field of information intelligence, which is recruiting people to document the effects of enemy air strikes, follow up on search and rescue operations, and retrieve bodies to verify their results.

A source in the Lebanese Army Intelligence told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, “The security services have recently arrested many people on charges of collaboration, most of them Lebanese and Syrians, and there are also Palestinians, and they were transferred to the military court.”

He added, "There is a security alert in this regard, because Israel always relies on this method in its war on Lebanon, and Lebanon has a history of doing so with it."

The source points out that "the issue of collaboration is not new, and more than 160 agents have been arrested in the past few years, i.e. before the aggression, as Israel is keen to keep its channels inside Lebanon and recruit spies to collect the information it wants to use when the time is right for it, as it is doing today, which is what we are trying to prevent as much as possible."

The source points out that "many of the agents who have been arrested since the beginning of the aggression were in locations exposed to Israeli bombardment, especially the southern suburbs of Beirut."

Regarding the method of their discovery, the source says: “They are monitored, watched, and it is noted that they document the effects, destruction, rescue operations, and the recovery of remains and martyrs, and not with one video, for example, and then leave. Rather, they stay for a long time and document all the details, and this is what makes them under suspicion and they are arrested and exposed during investigation and their phones and electronic devices are confiscated.”

The source indicated that "most people are lured via the Internet and social media sites, where they communicate with them and offer them very large sums of money, in exchange for providing them with security information, especially related to Hezbollah or Lebanese sites and regions, official departments, and other things."

The Israeli occupation army also publishes media content on some social media platforms, such as videos, links and applications, to lure citizens to sites dedicated to spying, gathering information or recruiting agents, according to the Lebanese army, which has long warned against “content that poses a security threat to the homeland and society.”

Lebanon has a long history with labor

Lebanon has a long history with the issue of collaboration and collaboration with Israel, which is punishable by Lebanese law, and the accused are subject to the most severe penalties, which may reach life imprisonment with hard labor, the death penalty (although this is not implemented), and the deprivation of civil rights. It is worth noting that “recruitment” was not limited to citizens, especially those of Lebanese, Palestinian, and Syrian nationalities, but even included employees in official departments, military personnel, and deans, who exploit their positions to provide information to the Israeli occupation.

The long file of collaboration goes back to before the liberation in 2000, and among them were many defectors from the Lebanese army, most notably officer Saad Haddad, with reference also to the "Lahad Army" which was formed with support from Israel, before many of them fled to occupied Palestine, after the liberation, and the rest were handed over.

Among the prominent names who were arrested on charges of collaboration in Lebanon, after 2006, was Mahmoud Rafeh, a first assistant in the Internal Security Forces, who was accused of collaborating with Israel and participating in planning, preparing and executing the assassination of the two Hezbollah leaders, Ali Deeb and Ali Saleh. Adeeb Al-Alam, a retired brigadier general in the General Security, was also accused of collaborating with Israeli intelligence.

Nasser Nader, who was given the title of “agent with the rank of brigadier general,” was accused of assassinating Hezbollah leader Ghaleb Awali. He has a long history of collaboration, and was dismissed from his military position for security and moral reasons. He also exploited his elements and position to obtain information and photos of Hezbollah points in the suburbs.

Former army brigadier general Fayez Karam is also one of the most prominent names arrested on charges of espionage for Israel. He was the director of the counter-espionage unit in Lebanon, and was sentenced to two years in prison before being released, benefiting from the Lebanese parliament’s decision to reduce his sentence to nine months. It is worth noting that he ran for the 2022 parliamentary elections with the support of the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gebran Bassil, in the Zgharta district, in the north of the country, which sparked angry reactions at the time.

Mossad's innovative methods for recruiting agents
In this context, Lebanese researcher Khaled Al-Hajj told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, “When we talk today about Mossad’s penetration of the Lebanese arena and the recruitment of agents, we are addressing a profound issue that is intertwined with Lebanese history, demographics, and society.”

He added: "Since the establishment of the Zionist entity, communication with the Jews in Lebanon began, where some of them were recruited to collect information about Lebanese society, or to provide studies and research related to people's names and other details."

Hajj pointed out, “This issue has existed since 1948, and many scientific sources can be used to confirm this. With the emigration of a large portion of Lebanese Jews, this group has become a rare minority.”

“However, the Mossad did not stop there. It adopted new methods to communicate with the Lebanese and other groups in the Lebanese arena. For example, in the city of Sidon, in the south of the country, there was a poor, mute man who was believed to be completely out of sight, but with the Israeli invasion, it turned out that he was a Mossad officer, and he helped the Israeli forces obtain vital information about people and locations.”

Pointing out that "the main goal of Mossad operations has always been to collect data and information. Israel wanted to have an eye everywhere, knowing what was happening within the societies it targeted."

On the other hand, Al-Hajj believes that the Israeli occupation has a bank of targets in this war, and he adds, “We have seen this, especially in the recent period, as it relies on a combination of spies or agents and artificial intelligence to carry out its strikes.”

He added, "There are underground tunnels that most devices, regardless of their type, cannot reach or enter. This, of course, requires spies and human information that is transferred to the Israeli side."

(New Arab)