LEBANESE MILITARY COURT CONDEMNS THREE ISRAELI OPERATIVES TO DEATH.

A Lebanese military tribunal handed down the death penalty on February 24th to three Lebanese men convicted of espionage as Israeli agents. Lebanon and Israel are still technically at war and so a conviction on spying charges can carry a death sentence. According to Naharnet, a Lebanese news website, one of the men, Moussa Ali Moussa was found guilty of making contact with Israel and turning over information. Specifically, the information gathered pertained to officials of Hezbollah, Lebanon’s Shiite political powerhouse, and was provided to Israel over a ten year time span, from 2000 to 2010. The imposition of the death sentence in the case of the other two convictees, Ali Sweid and Ahmed Hussein Abdullah, was done in absentia. Since Lebanese authorities commenced a crackdown on alleged Israeli spy networks three years ago, there have been in excess of 100 arrests on suspicion of ties to Israel’s spy agency Mossad. Among the suspects have been an army general, members of the security forces, and employees of telecommunication firms. The Lebanese judiciary has resorted to the death penalty a number of times thus far. In fact, exactly one week prior to the current sentencing, Haitham al-Sahmarani, onetime member of the Internal Security Forces who purportedly admitted to being an Israeli agent, also received a death sentence. His conviction entailed transmitting information regarding potential hideouts for Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah head. As of now, no execution has been conducted.