Sources from the Telecommunications Ministry confirmed to The Daily Star Wednesday claims made by Speaker Nabih Berri that Israel had recently installed spying stations along its border with Lebanon.
The sources said that back in August, the caretaker prime minister’s office had tasked a committee comprising representatives of the ministry, the Army and the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority to survey the border with Israel for any spying stations.
Upon touring the area, the committee discovered that Israel had established spying stations along its borders with Lebanon before and after the 2006 War.
Moreover, the committee determined that some spying stations were reconstructed by Israel after being destroyed by Hezbollah during the war.
The biggest spying station was reportedly located in Al-Abbad area and Jal al-Alam, both located along the U.N.-demarcated Blue Line.
Israel also erected devices that were directed toward major mobile phone stations in Lebanon to wiretap phone conversations, the sources said.
Hassan Fadlallah, head of the parliamentary committee for media and communications, will chair a session Monday to discuss information available so far on the issue and would be presented with a detailed explanation on how spying devices function.
“Israel installed and is still installing spying stations along the border with Lebanon, starting from Naqoura passing by Khiam and all the way to Shebaa,” Berri said Wednesday during his weekly meeting with MPs, according to a statement from his office carried by the National News Agency.
Berri said the stations had modern equipment with the ability to monitor the entirety of Lebanon and were all linked to Tel Aviv via devices in Mount Hermon and the occupied Shebaa Farms on the Lebanese-Israeli border.
According to the NNA, Berri presented the MPs with a copy of documents and photos proving the presence of the stations and said the Telecommunications Ministry had the related files.
Berri called on the relevant ministers and parliamentarians to draw up a report in order to file an official complaint with the U.N. Security Council.
Since the July-August 2006 war, Hezbollah and the Army have continued to uncover Israeli monitoring devices, including laser range finders, cameras and transmitters, as far from the border as the Sannine and Barouk mountains.
