Conflict Incident Report

Military Investigative Judge Riad Abu Ghaida Tuesday indicted a Lebanese man of attempting to collaborate with Israel after he contacted an Israeli army spokesman over Facebook Messenger, a judicial source told The Daily Star.

Abu Ghaida accused the defendant, M.D., of “attempting to contact the Israeli enemy with the aim of disclosing information in [Israel’s] interest and collaborating with it.”

The suspect had contacted Avichai Adraee, the Israeli army’s Arabic spokesman, through Facebook Messenger, saying he supports peace with Israel, “a beautiful country,” and added: “I am from the south and you understand enough.” However, Adraee did not respond.

The indictment said the defendant had also messaged a female Israeli officer in English through the Messenger application and had said that he wanted to have friends in Israel. He also said he had information that would help Israel with regards to Lebanon. In this case, the officer solely replied, “What do you want?,” without saying anything else.

The Internal Security Forces Information Division arrested the suspect on June 20. During his interrogation, the suspect reportedly attributed the correspondence to his poor financial situation and to his inability to find a job.