Lebanon clears men after phone code alert

Tensions in Beirut rose on Sunday after two men from Ramallah were detained for using Israeli country codes on their phones. Lebanese officials quickly moved to quell speculation that the pair were Mossad agents, labeling the rumors as fabricated.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam issued a statement through the Council of Ministers to condemn what he called the moral bankruptcy surrounding the incident. His office asserted that hostile parties were attempting to tarnish his reputation and mislead public opinion. Security forces questioned the men and confirmed they had entered the country legally and had visited previously.

The detention followed a report by the Beirut Time that two individuals with Turkish passports were staying at the Lancaster Eden Bay hotel in Beirut. Suspicion was triggered when hotel staff noticed the pair using Israeli numbers to make reservations. An Uber driver and hotel employees alerted authorities, initiating the investigation.

The men were released after officials determined they were not foreign operatives. A secondary rumor claiming Salam had deported the pair rather than detaining them circulated the next day, drawing criticism from anti-Israel groups in Lebanon. The prime minister's denial of the Mossad capture story aimed to restore calm to the public discourse.

Public sensitivity to Israeli intelligence in Lebanon has increased since September 2024. During that operation, thousands of booby-trapped pagers exploded across Lebanon and Syria. Hezbollah confirmed that most casualties were members of its ranks, though civilians also suffered severe injuries in the blast.