Lebanon releases two Palestinians after Israeli phone codes trigger spy rumors

Two Palestinian men detained in Beirut have been released after Lebanese officials confirmed they entered the country legally, ending a week of speculation that Israeli intelligence agents had been captured.

The detention began when hotel staff and an Uber driver noticed the men, both from Ramallah, using phone numbers with Israeli country codes to book a room at the Lancaster Eden Bay hotel in Beirut. Security forces subsequently questioned the pair and determined that both had visited Lebanon previously and held valid entry permits.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the circulating reports as fake news in a statement from the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. His office accused hostile parties of stoking the rumors in a cheap attempt to tarnish his reputation and mislead public opinion. Salam also criticized the moral bankruptcy surrounding the affair, which had generated significant alarm among residents.

The incident follows the September 2024 pager plot, in which booby-trapped devices exploded across Lebanon and Syria, killing and wounding thousands of Hezbollah members and civilians. Hezbollah acknowledged that most of the casualties were members of the Iran-backed group. That operation heightened local concern about Mossad activity, making the recent detention of two men with Israeli-linked phone numbers a trigger for immediate public scrutiny.

Beirut Time first reported on Sunday that claims were circulating about two Mossad agents holding Turkish passports staying at the hotel. A separate rumor that Salam had deported the men rather than holding them also spread, drawing anger from anti-Israel voices in Lebanon. The government moved to clarify the timeline, confirming the men were held for questioning before their release.