Lebanon arrests ‘high-level agent’ close to Hezbollah for allegedly spying for Israel

Judicial official says man handed Israel precise intelligence that led to the killing of four top security leaders and others; he was detained at airport trying to leave country

Lebanese authorities have arrested a man close to the Hezbollah terror group, accusing him of spying for Israel and of providing intel that led to the killing of commanders in the Iran-backed group, a judicial official told AFP on Tuesday.

The official, who is following the investigation and requested anonymity, said “a high-level Israeli agent was arrested last week in Beirut.”

He alleged that the suspect had been “involved in providing the Israeli side with precise information that led to the assassination of Hezbollah officials, including four top-tier security leaders.”

“He was very close to commanders in Hezbollah, and possessed a wide range of information due to his relationship with them,” the official added.

According to the official, the man was detained last week at Beirut’s airport as he prepared to board a flight to Iraq.

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The detainee hails from southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah holds sway, and has made several trips to Iraq, where his wife is from.

From there, according to the same official, he used to go to Turkey “to meet with officers and agents linked to the Israeli Mossad, and provide them with information about targets he was gathering data about in Beirut.”

The official did not specify the identity of the Hezbollah leaders targeted by Israel nor the date of their deaths.

Scores of the group’s senior commanders have been killed in Israeli strikes since Hezbollah fired at Israel in support of Palestinian terror group Hamas after the October 7, 2023, massacre, and again when it drew Lebanon to the broader Middle East war in March of this year.

This includes former leader Hassan Nasrallah, killed by Israel in a major strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September 2024.

Lebanon and Israel have officially been at war for decades, and Lebanese security services have arrested dozens of people on suspicion of working for Israel, many of whom were allegedly recruited online following the country’s economic collapse beginning in 2019.

In October, a judicial source told AFP that more than 30 people had been arrested on suspicion of providing Israel with precise information on Hezbollah facilities and the movements of its members during its previous war with Israel in 2023 and 2024.

People convicted of working for Israel have been sentenced to up to 25 years in prison in the past.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

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