Moroccan Security Forces Arrest Lebanese Affiliated With Hezbollah

Foreign currency and different driving licenses were discovered at the home of the Lebanese suspect in Casablanca Wednesday [GettyImages]
Foreign currency and different driving licenses were discovered at the home of the Lebanese suspect in Casablanca Wednesday [GettyImages]
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Moroccan Security Forces Arrest Lebanese Affiliated With Hezbollah

Foreign currency and different driving licenses were discovered at the home of the Lebanese suspect in Casablanca Wednesday [GettyImages]
Foreign currency and different driving licenses were discovered at the home of the Lebanese suspect in Casablanca Wednesday [GettyImages]

Moroccan authorities said late Thursday they arrested a Lebanese national affiliated with the Hezbollah party over charges of committing fraud and identity theft.

They said the 57-year-old man features on the Interpol list of wanted criminals.

The National Brigade of the Judicial Police (BNPJ), upon intelligence provided by the National Security Directorate, (DGST), arrested the Hezbollah member last Wednesday in Casablanca over charges of fraud, identity theft, and possession of identity documents and passports reported stolen.

The suspect is accused of defrauding money from several victims in Morocco. He also used stolen French and Portuguese passports, fooled his victims claiming he is a manager of foreign companies.

At his residence, the security forces found two stolen French and Portuguese passports, registered as stolen in the database of Interpol, several identity documents, French driving licenses with Portuguese, French, and Italian names as well as an unspecified amount of money in foreign currency and local Dirham.

The investigations are conducted in coordinating with Interpol as well as with the countries concerned to determine the circumstances of the declaration of the theft of the seized passports.

Morocco accuses Iran and its Lebanese Shiite ally, Hezbollah, of training and arming fighters of the Polisario Front, a Western Sahara independence movement.

US officials have long been concerned that central and west African countries could become safe havens for financiers of Hezbollah looking to take advantage of weak financial regulation.



Israeli Military Says Lebanese Residents are Prohibited to Move South to Several Villages

This picture taken from a position in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, shows an Israeli flag (L) on a destroyed building, and a Lebanese flag (R) painted on a damaged building in the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal on November 25, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
This picture taken from a position in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, shows an Israeli flag (L) on a destroyed building, and a Lebanese flag (R) painted on a damaged building in the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal on November 25, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
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Israeli Military Says Lebanese Residents are Prohibited to Move South to Several Villages

This picture taken from a position in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, shows an Israeli flag (L) on a destroyed building, and a Lebanese flag (R) painted on a damaged building in the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal on November 25, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
This picture taken from a position in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, shows an Israeli flag (L) on a destroyed building, and a Lebanese flag (R) painted on a damaged building in the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal on November 25, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)

Lebanese residents are prohibited from moving south to a line of villages and their surroundings until further notice, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on X on Friday.
Israel said it opened fire on Thursday towards what it called "suspects" with vehicles arriving at several areas in the southern zone, saying it was a breach of the truce with Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, which came into effect on Wednesday.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah in turn accused Israel of violating the deal.
"The Israeli enemy is attacking those returning to the border villages," Fadlallah told reporters, adding "there are violations today by Israel, even in this form".
The Israeli military also said on Thursday the air force struck a facility used by Hezbollah to store mid-range rockets in southern Lebanon, the first such attack since the ceasefire took effect on Wednesday morning.
In his recent post, Adraee called on Lebanese residents to not return to more than 60 southern villages, saying anyone who moves south of the specified line "puts themselves in danger".
The Lebanese army earlier accused Israel of violating the ceasefire several times on Wednesday and Thursday.
The exchange of accusations highlighted the fragility of the ceasefire, which was brokered by the United States and France to end the conflict, fought in parallel with the Gaza war. The truce lasts for 60 days in the hope of reaching a permanent cessation of hostilities.