A senior commander of Hezbollah had four mistresses whom he married over the phone, Israel's spy network Mossad learned during its surveillance on the Lebanese armed group. Fuad Shukr, one of the co-founders of Hezbollah, allegedly felt "guilty" of juggling four women at once and desperately sought to marry them all this year, a report by the New York Times said.
According to the report, Shukr, feeling uncomfortable about his situation, reached out to Hezbollah's highest religious cleric Hashem Safieddine - who was killed in an airstrike in October. Mossad reportedly revealed that Shukr asked Safieddine to marry him to his four mistresses. Following Safieddine's advice, four separate phone-based wedding ceremonies were arranged for him.
It is unclear where the women lived and where the phone calls took place. The unions, however, did not last, the report said.
Mossad has spent decades collecting mundane and intimate details about Hezbollah commanders.
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Shukr was among the hundreds of Hezbollah commanders being tracked by Israel since the end of the 2006 war. He became Israel's key target following a missile attack in July where dozens of Israelis were killed. In July, Shukr reportedly received a phone call that led to the revelation of his secret hiding place. He was killed shortly after, along with one of his wives and two children, the report said.
The US had identified Shukr as one of the planners of the 1983 bombing of the barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, that killed 241 American Marines.
War has been raging across the Middle East with Israel fighting the Hamas in Gaza and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon. Israel and Iran have also exchanged fire over their support to these groups. Thousands of people have been killed in the war.
Amid this, Israel's government began debating about opening a "northern front" against Hezbollah, reported the New York Times. The Israeli military and Mossad drew up different strategies for a campaign against Hezbollah, it said.
