BEIRUT — Israel remotely detonated a spying device planted in south Lebanon, killing a member of the Lebanese militant Hezbollah in the explosion, the group said Friday.
Hezbollah Al-Manar TV said Hassan Ali Haidar was killed after army intelligence spotted a “strange device” in the village of Adloun. A jet detonated the device remotely after it was discovered, killing Haidar, it said.
The Lebanese army confirmed the incident, but said the dead man was a civilian. It said Israel detonated the device “from a distance” through aircraft flying overhead. The device was planted on the militant group’s telecommunications network.
The Israeli military declined to comment.
Lebanese and U.N. officials have accused Israel in the past of detonating similar surveillance devices planted in south Lebanon, where Hezbollah guerrillas operate. Hezbollah and Israel, bitter enemies, fought a fierce monthlong war in 2006.
Lebanese officials say Israel regularly recruits spies in Lebanon and has penetrated the nation’s telecommunications networks. Israel does not comment on such allegations.
The two countries have been in a formal state of war since Israel was created in 1948.