Lebanon: We nabbed Mossad spy in Hamas assassination bid
Lebanese military says Hussein Ahmed was recruited by Israeli intelligence agency and is responsible for the 2018 attempted murder of Mohammed Hamdan, the brother of the terror organization's top representative in the country.
Mohammed Hamdan — a Hamas militant and the brother of Osama Hamdan, the terror organization's top representative in Lebanon — survived an attempt on his life after a bomb went off in his car in southern Lebanon. He was badly wounded in the attack, which Hamas attributed to Israel without providing any evidence. Hamdan's leg reportedly had to be amputated.
The Lebanese army said that the suspect, Hussein Ahmed, was at the scene of the attack before Hamdan's car exploded. According to the army, Ahmed was arrested in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, and admitted during questioning that he was recruited by Mossad in 2014, had met with his operatives and was provided with espionage equipment.
He also reportedly admitted that he began tracking Hamdan in 2017, and provided his Israeli handlers intelligence he collected as part of the preparations to assassinate Hamdan.
According to military, Ahmed told investigators he had left Lebanon after the bombing and only returned on the instructions of his Mossad handlers.
The army also said that it found numerous electronic devices provided by Mossad agents in Ahmed's possession. Lebanon said the matter is still being investigated.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said following the bombing there was "every indication" the attack was Israel's work.
Israel denied any involvement in the bombing, Haaretz reported, with Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz saying at the time that, "if Israel had been involved, it would not have ended with a lightly wounded (man)."
