“Israeli citizen” voted in Lebanon”s elections
Two elderly sisters arrested for possessing Israeli documents were released from custody on Wednesday.
The women, reportedly in their early 70s, are both Lebanese citizens currently living in Occupied Jerusalem.
The pair flew into the Rafik Hariri International airport last week, one on a Lebanese passport, the other on a US passport. They were detained this week after being found in possession of some Israeli currency and an expired Israeli passport, belonging to one of their husbands, who are both Palestinians.
One of the women, who are believed to come from the Metn town of Bikfaya, had voted in Sunday”s Lebanese elections, according to a well-informed security source.
The other woman was visiting Lebanon in order to care for a sick relative and organize his transfer to the US, where he is to receive medical treatment, the source added. There is no indication that she voted on Sunday.
It is believed that the pair, both members of the Moussa family, had forgotten to remove Israeli items from their possession before they were arrested.
General Ashraf Rifi, head of Internal Security Forces, said the women had been released without charge on Wednesday. "These women were Lebanese and their husbands were Palestinian. The reason they were arrested was because of their husbands, who had Israeli passports. It wasn”t the first time they have been to Lebanon and they have now been released," he told The Daily Star.
An Israeli news service reported on Wednesday that the women were Israeli citizens but that their Lebanese origin has since emerged.
Their arrest came as the number of people in Lebanon detained on charges of spying for Israel reached 68. On Tuesday, three more people were held by Lebanese security forces.
"They are accused of collaborating with the Israeli enemy for money and giving it information about civilian and military outposts," said one judicial official.
The arrests are part of an increased security operation to crack down on spy rings. Suspects in cases relating to national security are often held for months before formal charges are brought against them.
Several of those charged are still at large and security forces have said they suspect three spies to have fled across the border into Israel.
Last Friday, two Lebanese employees with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were released after allegations of spying proved to be unfounded.
Three days earlier a Lebanese Army colonel was arrested on suspicion of providing Israel with information.
The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) recently circulated a message among its troops warning against Israeli attempts to infiltrate the military.
Lebanon has formally complained to the UN about what it says is Israeli espionage, calling it a breach of a Security Council resolution that brought the 2006 war to an end.
The country is still in a state of war with Israel and convicted spies face a sentence of life imprisonment, or even the death penalty if it can be proved that their leaked information contributed to Lebanese loss of life.