Hezbollah Exploited International Project to Deploy Private Communications Network in Beirut | Report
A Saudi report claims Hezbollah exploited an international project in Beirut to deploy a private communications network for its operatives. An international institution identified the organization's cables alongside power lines in a project from the UNESCO area to Rafik Hariri Hospital. The investigation in Lebanon examines security breaches; the information was passed to US intelligence.
A report by the Saudi channel Al-Arabiya, citing sources familiar with the details, reveals that Hezbollah exploited an international project in Beirut to deploy a private communications network intended solely for its operatives. An international institution operating in Lebanon identified the deployment of communication cables belonging to the organization as part of a project it funded. The work was carried out by a company owned by a businessman considered one of Lebanon's top contractors, which laid the infrastructure alongside power lines of the international institution, as part of a project from the UNESCO area to the vicinity of Rafik Hariri Hospital in Bir Hassan. The network resembles infrastructure the organization established in southern Lebanon, the Beqaa Valley, and the Dahieh suburb, and it also extends to areas in Beirut. The investigation also focuses on whether the company performed similar work in other parts of the capital, amid information that it received support from senior figures in the "Shiite duo" — Amal and Hezbollah. The matter is being monitored by Lebanese security bodies, and the information was also passed to US intelligence to clarify the identity of the company's owners and those responsible. According to assessments, the company's owners may be questioned in Lebanon and could face sanctions from the US Treasury Department.