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Five detainees released
Israel announced that it will release five Lebanese detainees held in areas under Israeli army control in southern Lebanon, tying the move to ongoing contacts and talks with Lebanon over the recovery of the remains of Jewish community leaders who were kidnapped and killed in Lebanon during the mid-1980s.
“Israel will release five Lebanese citizens detained in southern Lebanon”
The Reuters report said Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office ordered the release after finding the detainees had no links to militant groups, and it said Israel had already released one of the five, Malek Kamal Ghazi, captured in October 2025 and handed over by the Red Cross at the Naqoura crossing.
In Beirut, Reuters cited a Lebanese security source and another from the Prisoners Follow-up Committee saying Ghazi was already released and handed over to Lebanese authorities by the International Committee of the Red Cross via the Nacora crossing, and the sources confirmed Ghazi does not belong to Hezbollah.
Anadolu reported that Beirut said it had received only one prisoner through the International Committee of the Red Cross, while Netanyahu’s office said the decision came after it became clear the detainees were “not members of any terrorist organization,” as he put it.
The release was described by Reuters as part of a U.S.-mediated framework agreement signed in June that included pledges to work towards the release of detainees and the search for and return of remains, alongside security arrangements relating to southern Lebanon.
Competing accounts and quotes
The accounts diverged over what Beirut received, with Anadolu saying Beirut received only one hostage through the Red Cross, while Reuters said Israel had already released one of the five, Malek Kamal Ghazi, and that sources denied reports that Ghazi was a Hezbollah member.
Reuters reported that the sources confirmed Ghazi does not belong to Hezbollah and added that Israel still holds 35 Lebanese, including 20 civilians, as the negotiations continue.
In a separate framing, Al-Jazirah Net reported that Netanyahu’s office said the authorities decided to release the five detainees after verifying that they are not affiliated with any armed organizations, and it described the step as part of broader efforts by Israel and Lebanon to address lingering humanitarian and security issues.
Al-Jazirah Net also said the two sides worked on identifying the locations of the remains of leaders from the Jewish community who were kidnapped and killed in Lebanon in the mid-1980s, and it cited field operations for search and investigation.
The same Reuters report placed the prisoner release within a track that led in June to a framework agreement, while Anadolu said the prisoner handover coincided with continuing Israeli incursions and arrests in southern Lebanon, including an Israeli force abducting three Lebanese from the town of Hulta in the Hasbaya district.
What’s at stake next
Lebanese officials and political actors framed the release as a step inside a broader detainee and missing-persons track, with Reuters describing the June U.S.-mediated framework agreement as including an eventual Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon as the Lebanese army takes control and disarms Iran-backed Hezbollah, terms the group has rejected.
“renewed its rejection of the framework agreement with Israel”
Anadolu reported that a senior Lebanese military source said Beirut had received only one prisoner via the Red Cross, and it said the Amal Movement parliamentary bloc affiliated with Hezbollah renewed its rejection of the framework agreement, describing it as a “cover” for continued Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon.
In the same Anadolu account, the Lebanese government said negotiations with the Israeli side, which resulted in this agreement, are the only way to restore Lebanon’s sovereignty over its territory, and it called on Tel Aviv to implement the agreement in full.
The prisoner handover was also linked to the remains issue, with Netanyahu’s office in Reuters saying Israel and Lebanon had carried out several efforts in recent months to locate the remains, including operations on the ground, and with Al-Jazirah Net adding that the two sides had worked on identifying locations of remains in Beirut and Sidon.
Meanwhile, Shafaq News reported that the Lebanese Army received a Lebanese national held by the Israeli military through the International Committee of the Red Cross, and it quoted Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam saying the return of any Lebanese detainee is an important step toward resolving the issue while pledging to continue efforts to secure the release of all Lebanese detainees held by Israel.