Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
by Leonid Tsukanov
[Regnum] Spy games have become commonplace in the Middle East. Not a week goes by without the local press reporting the arrest of yet another "foreign spy" plotting a large-scale act of sabotage in the host country.
One such story recently unfolded in Lebanon, where two Palestinians, suspected of working for the Israeli Mossad, were targeted. Although the theory about their ties to the Israelis was quickly debunked, the story has been stirring up the country for several days now.
STRANGE GUESTS
In late October, two men approached the reception desk at the Lancaster Eden Bay Hotel in Beirut. Introducing themselves as business travelers from Ramallah, Palestine, they asked to be checked into a quiet double room, away from prying eyes. The manager granted their request, but before handing over the keys, he asked them to fill out a registration form with their personal information—a standard procedure for any hotel. However, it was this request that later sparked a spy scandal.
In the "phone" field, the guests listed Israel's area code (+972), which the hotel considered highly suspicious. This was especially true after events in previous years, when major Israeli intelligence operations were preceded by the arrival of similar "tourists" and "business travelers." Therefore, the vigilant manager immediately called the police, reporting the possible discovery of a sleeper cell of the Israeli intelligence service, Mossad. Less than an hour later, a SWAT team descended on the Lancaster Eden Bay.
As it later turned out, by the time the hotel manager contacted the authorities, Lebanese counterintelligence had already dispatched a team to intercept them. The tip-off came from an Uber driver picking up the strange guests from the airport. According to taxi company representatives, the driver considered the passengers "too reserved for Arabs": all his attempts to start a conversation were rudely cut off, and when asked about the purpose of their trip, the men either responded with monosyllables or remained demonstratively silent.
And given that the guests were in transit from Jordan (a strategic ally of Israel, which has repeatedly served as a staging ground for agents in Lebanon), the driver suspected something was wrong and chose to exercise civic vigilance.
ORDINARY PALESTINIANS
The investigation didn't last long. Less than 24 hours later, Lebanese security officials were forced to issue an official statement declaring the alarm false. The strange guests were indeed residents of Ramallah, Palestine, and had come to Beirut legally on a business trip. Moreover, this wasn't their first trip to the Lebanese capital; each time, they stayed at the Lancaster Eden Bay.
The Israeli SIM cards that sparked panic were also legally acquired and repeatedly used to fill out registration forms, including at this hotel. A background check also yielded no leads: the Palestinian guests had no connection to Israeli intelligence.
However, the whirlwind of speculation was unstoppable. Even before the investigation's results were published, a rumor leaked to the local press that Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati had personally ordered the case hushed up and the detainees quietly expelled from the country, so as not to provoke the Israelis into further military action in southern Lebanon.
The Beirut Time newspaper caused the most confusion, reporting that upon registration, the Palestinians allegedly presented Turkish passports with signs of forgery, and during a search of their rooms, they attempted to destroy documents and block personal equipment.
Moreover, according to local sources, immediately after the suspected Palestinians were detained, representatives from the American embassy allegedly raided the hotel, persistently trying to find out the grounds for their arrest. This further strengthened the conviction that the guests might have ties to foreign intelligence.
Although Mikati's office later called rumors of a secret conspiracy with the Israelis "moral and political bankruptcy" and attempts to sow discord in the country, residents of the capital continued to demand greater clarity and an investigation into the incident from the authorities.
HEZBOLLAH AGAINST RUMORS
At one point, even Hezbollah was forced to intervene in the scandal. The movement's representatives appealed to their supporters to "not believe the rumors" spread by Lebanon's opponents in an attempt to divide society. And, at the same time, to refrain from witch-hunting friendly Palestinians—and from persecuting those who had settled in Lancaster Eden Bay.
Shiite activists also reacted harshly to proposals voiced by a Lebanese newspaper to "hand over" detained Palestinians to Hezbollah counterintelligence to verify the quality of their colleagues' work: rumors and insinuations should not undermine trust in the "pillars" of the Arab country's security.
The Shiite movement's unusual flexibility is easily explained. Hezbollah is extremely disadvantaged by a split within society—even if its opponents represent other branches of Lebanese politics or are in clear opposition to the Shiite bloc.
This is partly because a society exhausted by constant false spy scandals will at some point stop paying attention to real threats, which will create additional room for maneuver for foreign intelligence services in Lebanon.
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