Lebanon Dismisses Mossad Spy Rumors After Two Palestinians Detained Over Israeli Phone Numbers

Lebanese officials on Sunday rejected rumors that two Israeli Mossad operatives had been captured in the country, describing the claims as "fake news" and moving to calm public alarm over the detention of two Palestinian men.

The two men, both from Ramallah, were held after their phone numbers were found to carry Israeli country codes. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned what he called "moral bankruptcy" surrounding the affair, according to a statement from Lebanon's Presidency of the Council of Ministers.

Salam's office said hostile parties had stoked the rumors in a "cheap attempt to tarnish the reputation of the President of the Council of Ministers and mislead public opinion." The statement added that security forces had questioned the pair and determined that both had entered Lebanon legally and had been to the country before.

The independent Lebanese outlet Beirut Time reported on Sunday that claims were circulating that two Mossad agents holding Turkish passports had been staying at the Lancaster Eden Bay hotel in Beirut.

According to reports, suspicion was triggered when the two Palestinians used Israeli phone numbers to book their hotel reservation. An Uber driver and hotel staff reportedly alerted the authorities, which led to an investigation.

The following day, a separate rumor spread that Salam had deported the men instead of ordering them held. That claim drew anger from anti-Israel voices in Lebanon.

Concern in Lebanon about Mossad activity appears to have deepened since the pager plot of September 2024. In that operation, thousands of booby-trapped pagers exploded across Lebanon and Syria, killing and wounding thousands of Hezbollah members.

Hezbollah acknowledged that most of those killed or injured were members of the Iran-backed group. A number of civilians were also reported to have suffered life-altering injuries.