On  Monday, Al-Akhbar newspaper in Beirut published an unconfirmed report that more than 15 Israeli spy networks with over 35 members had been caught by security forces in Lebanon in the last four weeks. Neither Lebanese nor Israeli officials have commented on the report nor have any other Lebanese news services reported on the claim.

The arrests were the result of the largest operation ever carried out by the Information Branch of the Lebanese Internal Security Forces Directorate against Israeli intelligence. The directorate tried to obscure the true nature of the operation by initially claiming the arrests were for fraud and drug crimes.

The operation began about five weeks ago when a special officer reported to the Information Branch that he had discovered signs of work connected to Israel. The ensuing investigation allegedly revealed dozens of people who, either knowingly or unknowingly, supplied information to Israel. The information related not only to Hezbollah but also to Palestinian factions in Lebanon which include Hamas.

The report in Al-Akhbar claimed the Israeli spy network had infiltrated the Information Branch itself and was close to its leadership.

Al-Akhbar claimed that “very sensitive” information showed that, in the past two years, Israeli intelligence has succeeded in conducting a number of “remarkable” operations in Lebanon and Syria and possibly in other locations as well.

The report also claimed that one spy, who had taken part in the civil war in Syria, was collecting collect statistics, studies, and polls for a UN organization. Other alleged spies were claimed to be posing as workers for NGOs. 

Operating throughout Lebanon, the spies came from all social sects including Sunni, Shia, Druze, Christian, Syrian, and Palestinian. 

The report also claimed the spy ring was responsible for the explosion of a Hamas weapons depot in the Burj al-Shamali refugee camp in southern Lebanon in December.

The spies were paid for their efforts, a powerful motivation as Lebanon suffers a major economic crisis, with the money being delivered via money transfer companies located in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia. Recruited via social media, the spy ring communicated via websites and chat rooms, as well as Lebanese phone lines.

In July, the Internal Security Forces Directorate in Lebanon arrested a Lebanese citizen in West Beqaa, east of Beirut, over spying for Israeli intelligence. In June, a female activist was arrested for similar charges after Hezbollah supporters accused her on social media of being an Israeli spy.  

Israel seems to have spies everywhere as Hamas is currently engaged in a manhunt after Abed al-Karim Abu Odeh escaped from Ansar Prison in Gaza on Saturday. Odeh was arrested by Hamas in 2019 on suspicion of mapping underground tunnels with a tracking device he allegedly received from his Israeli handlers Odeh was a former commander in Ezz Al-Din al-Qassam, the armed wing of Hamas.