The Lebanese intelligence arrested a local Mossad agent, who had been involved in an assassination attempt of a Palestinian commander last year.
“The Intelligence Directorate was able on 21/01/2019 to arrest Hussein Ahmad Batto in Charhabil – Sidon. The latter had performed surveillance and observation operations before the detonation operation,” the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) said in an official statement on January 22.
Hussein Ahmad Batto, Click to see full-size image
During the interrogation, Batto confessed that he was recruited by the Israeli Mossad intelligence agency in 2014. The agent also revealed that he had met with his recruiters outside Lebanon and received electronic monitoring and communication devices.
“The arrested individual also confessed to having been assigned to observe Hamdan from the summer of 2017 and that he has located his residence and monitored his movements as well as transferred information to his recruiters for the detonation operation to be performed by another group that was determined after the mentioned operation,” the LAF added in its offical statement.
After the failed assassination attempt, which occurred on January 14 of 2018, Mossad ordered Batto to leave Lebanon. However, they ordered him to return recently. So he did.
The arrest of Batto is a huge blow to the Mossad’s network in Lebanon. It also represents a strong evidence of Israel’s continued violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty.
