Israel confirms running spy networks in Lebanon

Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon has confirmed that Israel is running intelligence-gathering networks in Lebanon.

"When we are in conflict with an enemy, we gather information about them," Haaretz quoted Ya'alon as saying on Saturday.

"The moment Hezbollah renewed their attacks, we began to collect intelligence. We will stop when Hezbollah disarms itself and the [Israel-Lebanon] border is a border of peace," he added.

In October, two explosions over occurred in southern Lebanon after Lebanon's Hezbollah discovered cables used for spying in the al-Abbad area near an Israeli border post.

The UN peacekeepers in Lebanon (UNIFIL) who were called out to investigate the cause of the blasts later confirmed that the explosions aimed at destroying Israeli espionage equipment.

"Preliminary indications are that these explosions were caused by explosive charges contained in unattended underground sensors which were placed in this area by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) apparently during the 2006 war," UNIFIL said in a statement.

The UNIFIL had declared that the Israeli espionage operations in Lebanon, represent violations of Security Council resolution 1701 which halted the 33-day war.

Israel which has staged several wars in the region in its 60-year old history invaded Lebanon in 1982 in an operation dubbed as the Operation Peace for Galilee and occupied the southern Lebanon, but Hezbollah forces played as the key resistance movement and forced them to leave the country.

Once again in 2006, when Israel launched another offensive into Lebanon, it faced strong resistance from Hezbollah.

Israel sees Hezbollah's military might as the key hindrance to its expansionist policies in the region.