NICOSIA, Cyprus — A member of the terrorist group Hezbollah has been jailed for three years by a Cyprus court for plotting to attack Israeli targets on the island, according to the
BBC.
Although Hossam Taleb Yaccoub — a Lebanese Swedish national— admitted he had gathered information on Israeli tourists, he denied planning any attacks, the BBC said.
However, testimony before the court pointed to payments from Hezbollah to Yaccoub to carry out six missions since 2011.
"There is no doubt that these are serious offenses because by committing them, at the very least it potentially jeopardized the safety Israeli citizens and targets on the territory of the Cyprus Republic," the court said in convicting Yaccoub.
Hezbollah, which has been designated a terrorist organization by a number of governments, has denied the accusations.
Yaccoub, 24, admitted he had collected information on Israeli flights arriving on Cyprus and buses carrying tourists from Israel, but claimed he had no knowledge on how the information was to be used, according to the BBC.
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