Israel jails Swedish national for 'spying for Hezbollah'

12/2/2015 4:05:09 AM

(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) A Swedish national of Palestinian descent has been sentenced by an Israeli court to 18 months in prison for allegedlyspying for Hezbollah.

Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported Sunday that 55-year-oldHassan Hizranhad been found guilty of passing intelligenceto Hezbollahafter being recruited by the Lebanese armedgroup in 2009.

Hizran who was raised ina Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanonwas reportedly given a light sentence on a plea bargain because according to the court his Hezbollah handlers had instructed him to cooperate.

The court also ruled that the threat he posed to national security had been minimal because he did not provide Hezbollah with all the information it wanted.

Hezbollah emerged as a Shia militia in the 1980s after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon during that country’s 15-year-long civil war.

It later fought a protracted guerilla war against Israel-backed forces in southern Lebanon which eventually led to a full Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000.

In 2006 a massive Israeli offensive against Hezbollah -- which included an intense campaign of airstrikes -- caused widespread damage in much of the country including in capital Beirut while leaving some 1300 Lebanese dead.

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