The Lebanese parliament invited diplomats and representatives of UNIFIL on Thursday, November 28 to deliver a brief on the extent of Israeli espionage in Lebanon that has come to include their embassies and installations.
In a closed Lebanese parliamentary session hosted by the telecommunications and foreign affairs subcommittees, 27 representatives of foreign diplomatic missions were presented with evidence that Israel has been eavesdropping on their communications, monitoring citizens and state institutions alike
Not surprisingly, US Ambassador David Hale failed to attend the meeting, possibly due to the likelihood that his government is keenly aware of Israel’s intensive espionage program in Lebanon and may even receive reports from the Zionist state, according to Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah, who heads up the media and telecommunications committee in parliament.
The diplomats were informed of how Israel has recently intensified its illegal spying activity, particularly along the border with Lebanon, where it has erected dozens of listening posts with the latest eavesdropping technology. Israel’s appetite for information has now gone beyond spying on Lebanese to include the country’s diplomatic missions and the communications of the UNIFIL force stationed in the South.
The session did not take more than half an hour, as it was limited to a presentation, without any discussion scheduled to follow. Although none of the ambassadors issued any statements to the press after the briefing, they appeared unsettled as they exited the hall. According to a parliamentary source, it is unlikely that many of those present were aware of the scale of Israeli monitoring.
The source says that the parliamentary committees, which is in charge of following up on Israel’s eavesdropping activity, left little doubt in the mind of their foreign guests, as they were presented with “a detailed explanation of the ways by which they are being monitored.”
The intent of the meeting, Fadlallah explained in a press conference, “is to provide these countries with the information necessary to help us limit this Israeli aggression on Lebanon,” with the hope that they put some pressure on Tel Aviv to stop its intensive spying campaign.
There is also talk about raising the matter before the UN and possibly making a bid to expel Israel from the International Telecommunications Union. As for what role the Resistance can play in limiting Israel’s eavesdropping, Fadlallah repeated the words of Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, who recently said that the matter is in the hands of the state, which is more than capable of dealing with the issue.
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.