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Prisoners exchanged for search
Israel released five Lebanese detainees to Lebanon in two batches over two days, with the International Committee of the Red Cross facilitating transfers after Israel agreed to release civilians in exchange for Lebanon’s search for the bodies of Jewish Lebanese citizens missing from the country’s civil war.
“Four prisoners from Lebanon held in Israel were released and handed over to Lebanese authorities via the International Committee of the Red Cross”
The ABC27 | Local Western report said the first Lebanese prisoner, identified as Malek Ghazi, was released to the ICRC and then to the Lebanese army on Thursday, and that a convoy of ICRC vehicles was seen heading toward the Naqoura border crossing before entering a Lebanese army barracks in Tyre.
In the same deal, ABC27 | Local Western said the Friday releases included two Lebanese citizens and two Syrians captured in Lebanon, and that it was not clear if the released detainees would be sent back to Syria.
The BBC reported that Malek Ghazi was handed over to the Lebanese army by the ICRC at the Naqoura crossing before being taken to an army intelligence facility in Tyre for a medical examination, and that Israel said four more Lebanese civilians would be released on Friday.
The BBC also said more than 30 Lebanese were still believed to be in Israeli custody as negotiations remained stalled over a framework involving Hezbollah's disarmament, an Israeli withdrawal and the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south.
Voices welcome, families wait
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun welcomed the prisoner releases as confirmation of the “firm stance” of negotiations, with Anadolu Ajansı reporting that Aoun said the release of the first batch “reaffirms the viability of the Lebanon’s firm stance,” while stressing the continuation of the path to fully restore sovereignty.
Anadolu Ajansı also quoted the ICRC statement that it facilitated the transfer of five people after their release from detention in Israel, noting that “one person was transferred on Thursday and four others on Friday,” and reiterating that it has been unable since October 2023 to reach detainees in Israeli facilities.
At the same time, ABC27 | Local Western described families waiting at a checkpoint south of Tyre, including Mahmoud Ayash, who said his brother Hussein Ayash had been detained for about three months and had called from Naqoura to say he had been released and was with the ICRC.
ABC27 | Local Western also included Hussein Ayash’s account of prison, saying, “There was no torture, in the literal sense of the word. But it was not a comfortable experience at all.”
The BBC reported that Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed Ghazi's release and thanked the US for its role, adding that the government would continue working for the release of all Lebanese detainees, information about those still missing, and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory.
Negotiations and ongoing conflict
The prisoner handovers came as negotiations continued under US mediation, with the BBC saying the detainee issue was part of wider talks that also cover efforts to recover the remains of Lebanese Jewish community leaders abducted and killed during the civil war.
“Hezbollah rejects the talks and the pilot-zone concept outright”
The BBC further reported that the framework agreed in mid-June includes Hezbollah expected to disarm, the Lebanese army to deploy in the south and Israeli forces to withdraw gradually beginning with designated “pilot zones,” while Hezbollah rejects the talks and the pilot-zone concept outright.
Meanwhile, Al-Arabi al-Jadid | West Asian described Israeli escalation in southern Lebanon, saying two people were martyred in an Israeli drone strike near the Engineers Syndicate building in Nabatieh and that shelling and explosions hit seven towns in the Sidon and Nabatieh districts.
Al-Arabi al-Jadid | West Asian also stated that since March 2, 2026, Israel’s aggression against Lebanon had resulted in more than four thousand deaths and over 12 thousand injuries, and the displacement of more than one million people, according to Lebanese authorities.
In parallel, Boursorama | Western Alternative said Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz posted that “Mission accomplished and the tunnels have been cleared of terrorists,” after the Israeli army said Hezbollah fighters entrenched in tunnels beneath the Ali al-Taher ridge had been driven out.