Jerusalem, Jul 1 (IANS): Israel's Shin Bet security service said that the Lebanon-based Hezbollah group attempted to recruit two Israeli Arab women as spies through a Lebanese journalist.

Beirut Hammoud, identified in a Shin Bet statement as a journalist working with al al-Akhbar, an Arabic daily newspaper published in Beirut, together with her husband, Bilal Bizari, tried to recruit the two Israeli women, Xinhua news agency quoted the Shin Bet as saying on Tuesday.

The two women live in Majd al-Krum, an Arab town in Galilee, northern Israel.

Hammoud, originally an Israeli citizen who has lived in Lebanon since 2013, and the two women met in Turkey in December 2019, according to the Shin Bet.

Upon their return to Israel, the two were investigated by Israel's security services.

Later, the Shin Bet contacted Bizari by telephone and warned him the secret service knows about his and his wife's actions and told him they must stop trying to recruit Israeli citizens, according to the Shin Bet.

Hezbollah, an Iran-backed group, and Israel have fought a full-fledged war in 2006, which took place mostly on Lebanese soil.