Hezbollah detains Dutch armed group in Beirut
Hezbollah detained six Dutch nationals in Beirut on February 28th, according to Al-Akhbar.
The Dutch government claimed that the men, who were allegedly found in possession of military-grade weapons, ammunition, and equipment, were part of a group sent to evacuate Dutch nationals if the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel expanded.
Hezbollah handed the men over to the Lebanese Intelligence Directorate, for detention and interrogation until March 1st.
Sources told Al-Akhbar that the six men claimed to be members of the Dutch military, simulating an evacuation attempt in a southern suburb of Beirut. Contact with the group was purportedly lost after being stopped by Hezbollah security personnel.
Two employees of the Dutch embassy also allegedly participated in the simulation.
Journalist, Hasan Illaik, from Lebanon’s Al-Mahatta news outlet reported that the embassy employees were not in fact Dutch nationals.
He stated: ” [The] Dutch ambassador to Lebanon quickly arrived at the ministry to pressure their release, under the pretext that they had not committed any crime. This is, of course, untrue given that this is a major violation of the law and that it was a significant security threat.”
Illaik added that “even more suspiciously, the armed group claimed to have carried out the operation without consulting their own embassy. It was also discovered that they launched their operation from Kaslik,” a coastal town north of Beirut, “rather than from the embassy or a place affiliated with the embassy.”
Neither the Lebanese, nor Dutch administrations have yet provided an official statement as to the incident.
Al-Akhbar also reported the recent arrest of a Spanish national by Hezbollah, in the Al-Kafaat area of southern Beirut, on March 2nd. The man had been filming on his phone and claimed to be lost, trying to send his location to friends. The phone, however, was later discovered to contain an advanced program, preventing access to stored data.
Spanish embassy officials intervened in facilitating the man’s release, who was found to hold a diplomatic passport.
The recent arrests come as part of additional security measures employed by Hezbollah, in response to increased efforts by Israeli and other foreign intelligence agencies to collect information needed to plan assassinations of the group’s members and allies.
READ: Israel targets a Hezbollah commander in Southern Lebanon
Reuters reported the January 2nd assassination of prominent Hamas member, Saleh al-Arouri, in Dahiya, Beirut. The drone strike marked the first targeted assassination of a Hamas official, since the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza conflict on October 7th, 2023.
Hezbollah commander, Ali Hussein Burji, was also assassinated in Beirut on January 9th, after leading an attack on an army base in northern Israel.
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza conflict, the embassies of several countries, including the UK and Canada, have brought in special forces operators, ammunition, and equipment, under the pretext of evacuating their diplomats and nationals in the conflict escalates.
READ: Lebanon fears escalation between Israel and Hezbollah
Al-Akhbar reported on November 21st, that mysterious foreign military cargo flights had been landing at the Beirut and Hamat airports.
Between November 14th and 20th, nine planes were reported to have landed at the airports, including some from Tel Aviv, according to IntelSky.
Al-Akhbar / Reuters
