Army Finds Man who Crossed from Israel in Tyre

The Lebanese Army on Thursday announced the arrest of a man who became the subject of sensational media reports for several days after he crossed the border from Israel into Lebanon in mysterious circumstances.

“After continuous search operations by the army, a patrol from the Intelligence Directorate managed today to arrest the U.S. citizen Colin Emery after finding him hiding in one of Tyre's neighborhoods,” the army said in a statement.

“He is suspected of having entered from the occupied Palestinian territories into Lebanon on January 15, 2019,” the army added.

“He is being interrogated under the supervision of the relevant judicial authorities,” it said.

The U.S. Embassy in Beirut said in a statement: "We've seen media reports of the arrest of a U.S. citizen. We take our obligation to assist U.S. citizens abroad seriously and stand ready to provide all appropriate consular services."

It added that due to privacy considerations, "we have no further comment."

A military official told French news agency AFP that Lebanese authorities were in contact with the United Nations peacekeeping mission UNIFIL over the incident.

Recent media reports have said that the man is a “Jewish American.”

Lebanese TV networks had reported Tuesday that a man "wearing an Israeli military uniform" had entered “carrying a box” into the al-Raheb area in the Lebanese border town of Aita al-Shaab.

“When he encountered residents of the town, he threw away the box and Hebrew-language identification papers before fleeing and he is still hiding in Lebanese territory in the al-Kharzeh area while Lebanese Army intelligence agents are still searching for him,” LBCI reported.

Al-Jadeed reported that "two young men from Aita al-Shaab encountered a stranger in the town and they tried to ask him about his identity but he did not respond."

"At that point, one of them went to report him, which prompted him to flee, leaving behind some papers," al-Jadeed added.

"The papers carry Hebrew writings and one of them indicate that he is a foreigner born in 1986," the TV network said.