Two major achievements were achieved by the Lebanese Army and the General Security as the former arrested a Mossad agent involved in the assassination bid against Hamas commander one year ago and the latter dismantlled an ISIL terror cell planning for striking military targets in Lebanon.

In details, the Army issued a statement in which it clarified that the military intelligence units arrested Hussein Ahmad Batto on January 21 in the Sharhabeel area of Sidon.

In 2018, Hamas commander in Lebanon Mohammad Hamdan survived an assassination bid on January 14 when he opened the door of his silver BMW and a half-kilogram bomb that had been planted under the front seat detonated.

Batto admitted that he had been under Mossad’s employment since 2014, which included monitoring Hamdan.

“[Batto] met his employers outside Lebanon, and was handed equipment and devices specifically for monitoring and communication,” the statement said. “He also admitted to monitoring Hamdan since the summer the 2017, and that he located his residence, followed his movements and transferred the gathered information to his employers.”

The Army said that on Jan. 23, 2018, Mossad ordered Batto to leave Lebanon.

“He stayed outside the country for three months and returned based on their request,” the Army said, adding that it had seized a large number of electronic devices the Israelis had given him.

The statement noted that another group carried out the detonation itself.

Source: Al-Manar English Website