Lebanon and Israel: What do we know about Lebanese detainees in Israel after one of them was released? – BBC News Arabic
image source, Neha Sharma / BBC
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On Thursday, Lebanon received one of the nationals detained by Israel, while the remaining four remained, whose release was delayed after it was revealed that they were civilians who were not involved in any operation against it.
On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced its readiness to release five Lebanese civilians detained by Israeli forces during clashes with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
A Lebanese military source confirmed to Agence France-Presse that his country, through the International Committee of the Red Cross, received a citizen who was detained by Israel and taken to Israel.
The Lebanese army, through the International Committee of the Red Cross, received one of the five on Thursday afternoon, according to a Lebanese military source.
The source explained that the Red Cross transferred the freed man, identified as Malek Ghazi, from the Nakura crossing in southern Lebanon to its intelligence division in Tyre, the National News Agency reported.
Informed sources told the BBC that four people remain: Hussein Abdullah Mahmoud Ayashi, Asaad Mahmoud Mohammed al-Hasika (Syrian), Ali Hassan Shori and Sam Ibrahim al-Samad, and Israel will reportedly hand them over on Friday morning.
The committee’s spokesman for the Middle East, Hashim Oseiran, told Agence France-Presse on Thursday that “a humanitarian operation is currently underway”, explaining that “to ensure the security of the operation and to preserve the safety of all its participants”, details will be announced after the operation is over.
Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on Thursday: “It has been decided to release five Lebanese civilians who were detained in areas under the control of the Israeli army in southern Lebanon.”
He added that “after the interrogation, it became clear that they are civilians who are not members of any terrorist organization, did not participate in terrorist acts, and there is no reason to continue their detention in Israel.”
This is the first time Israel has released people it has detained since the conflict began.
The Lebanese government did not specify the number of its citizens detained by Israel, but their families and a committee related to their affairs recorded the names of at least 33 people who have been detained continuously in Lebanese territory since 2024, including at least one Syrian and a number of Hezbollah fighters.
During the latest round of US-sponsored talks between the two sides in Rome in August, the Lebanese government called on Israel to release the first batch of these detainees, an official Lebanese source told Agence France-Presse at the time.
Netanyahu’s office linked the release of the five civilians to “intense efforts” by Lebanon and Israel after a round of talks in Rome to determine the burial site of Lebanese Jewish figures who were kidnapped and killed during Lebanon’s civil war in the mid-1980s (1975-1990).
An official Lebanese source told Agence France-Presse after the latest round of talks that the Israeli delegation has given Lebanon a list of the names of those whose remains it wants to return.
In recent months, there have been Lebanese and Israeli operations to find the remains, which have included field activities, without disclosing their nature and results.
“Mobilizing all efforts”
The family of freed Malek Ghazi, who is from the town of Ain Atta in the Bekaa Valley, south of the Israeli border town of Shebaa, announced in October 2025 that they had lost contact after he left for training, and it was later discovered that he was detained in Israel.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said in a statement Thursday that “the safe return of any freed Lebanese is an important step toward resolving this issue,” and he thanked “the US administration, especially Ambassador Michelle Issa, for their efforts in this area.”
Salam vowed to continue working “until all our prisoners are released, the fate of the missing is revealed, and the complete withdrawal of Israel from Lebanese territory.”
The Lebanese Prime Minister added: “No matter how difficult the path of negotiations may seem, we will continue to mobilize all necessary efforts to preserve the rights of Lebanon and the interests of the Lebanese people.”
The standoff between Israel and Hezbollah began in October 2023, after the party launched a “front of support” for Gaza and its ally Hamas the day after the war in the Palestinian Strip began.
This war ended with a cease-fire agreement in November 2024.
On March 2, the Middle East war escalated into Lebanon after Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iranian guide Ali Khamenei on the first day of US-Israeli raids on Iran.
A cease-fire declaration was then reached, and then Lebanon and Israel began direct negotiations under American sponsorship, resulting in the signing of a framework agreement on June 26, which provides for the disarmament of Hezbollah, the gradual withdrawal of Israel from the occupied territories in southern Lebanon, and the deployment of the Lebanese army.
The date for the next round of talks between the two countries has not yet been set.
Despite the signing of the accord, Israel continues to occupy areas of southern Lebanon and continues to periodically raid and carry out large-scale bombing and shelling operations in southern cities, which it says target Hezbollah targets, while Lebanon consistently condemns them.