Germany denies claims it cooperates with Israel in Lebanon

The German government is denying reports from sources linked to the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah which accuse German forces deployed in the country as UN peacekeepers of working with Israel, reported dpa.

"Media in Lebanon close to Hezbollah are spreading the narrative that Germany and the German-led United Nations Maritime Task Force intervened in the fighting in Lebanon in favour of Israel," the Defence Ministry said on Thursday. "The German government firmly rejects these accusations."

Germany is currently providing about 100 soldiers for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which is caught up in the fighting between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Iran-allied Hezbollah.

Around 60 men and women are on the corvette Ludwigshafen am Rhein, which is leading the maritime element of the UN force.

At the beginning of November, Israeli special forces captured a man in the Lebanese beach town of Batrun, reportedly using speedboats. According to Lebanese security sources, the man was involved in Hezbollah arms smuggling between Lebanon and Syria.

UNIFIL subsequently stated that it had not been involved in any abduction or "other violations of Lebanese sovereignty." Disinformation and false rumours in this context are irresponsible and endanger the peacekeeping forces, UNIFIL said.

When German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited Beirut in October, the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar attacked her Middle East policy and wrote that Baerbock was repeating "the Israeli-Western narrative" and "speaking for the enemy."

The German Defence Ministry said on Thursday that there is "no direct contact between the Maritime Task Force and the Israeli military. Situation information is not passed on."