Authorities in Lebanon arrested five people including two Nepali women on Wednesday on the charge of spying for Israel, media reports said.

According to Lebanon General Security Directorate’s media office, those arrested are two Lebanese, a Palestinian refugee and two Nepali women. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kathmandu has yet to verify the arrests officially. Dipak Adhikari, joint-secretary at the ministry, said they expect more details by Friday. 
The Nepali Embassy in Egypt, which also looks after Nepal’s affairs in Lebanon, is learnt to have verified the incident and reported to Kathmandu.

According to worldisraelnews.com, the arrestees reportedly admitted to making telephone calls to the embassies of Israel in Turkey, Jordan, Britain and Nepal to share information. The Nepali women were charged with recruiting domestic workers from among the Nepalis working in Lebanon to gather information for the service of the Israeli spy agency Mossad.

“After their interrogation, the arrestees were referred to the competent court on the offence of collaboration with the Israelis, and work is underway to arrest the rest of the people involved,” the directorate stated.

Published on: 27 January 2017 | The Kathmandu Post