A former employee with the Lebanese state-run telecoms operator Ogero was charged Wednesday with spying for Israel.

According to a report on the Hizbullah terror organization’s Al-Manar television the man, Elias Younes, has been spying for Israel for over 35 years, starting in 1977.

The report said Younes “supplied the enemy with details regarding marine security procedures and ships movement, in addition to information related to the Telecommunications Ministry, as well as the detailed scheme of communication network in Lebanon.” Younes was called “the dean of collaborators” in the report.

The Lebanon’s Daily Star newspaper cited local security sources who said Military Prosecutor Judge Saqr Saqr has charged Younes on suspicion of having met with Israeli officials abroad and provided them with telecoms data in return for money. 

If convicted, the suspect faces the death penalty, the report said.

Lebanon often arrests local citizens and charges them with spying for the Jewish State. In October of 2010 more than 30 Lebanese citizens were convicted on charges of collaborating with Israel and becoming citizens of the Jewish State. All received 15-year prison terms.

At least five people have been sentenced to death in Lebanon after being convicted on charges of spying for Israel.

More than 100 Lebanese citizens – including a number of highly-placed military officials – have been arrested by authorities on suspicion of spying for the Jewish State over the past several years. 

Among those charged were a number of officials from the Lebanese Alfa Telecom telecommunications company, including one of the firm’s executives, Charbel Qazzi. Within days after Qazzi’s arrest was announced, however, local media reported that one of the four Lebanese telecom “spies” managed to escape.