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Lebanon05 September, 20263 min read

Israel Releases Five Lebanese Detainees, Red Cross Transfers Them to Lebanon Near Sidon

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Israel frees five Lebanese detainees, handed to Lebanon via Red Cross. Deal linked to Lebanon's search for remains of Lebanese Jews from the 1980s.

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Israel Releases Five Lebanese Detainees, Red Cross Transfers Them to Lebanon Near Sidon
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Five freed, deal tied

Israel released five Lebanese detainees to Lebanon in two batches over two days, with the International Committee of the Red Cross facilitating the transfers and handing them to the Lebanese army in the Mansouri area south of Sidon (Saida). The first prisoner, identified as Malek Ghazi, was handed over to the Lebanese army via the Red Cross at the Naqoura border crossing on Thursday, and a Lebanese security official said the other four were expected to be released Friday. The deal was tied to Lebanon agreeing to search for the bodies of Jewish Lebanese citizens who went missing during the country’s civil war decades ago, according to the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

At the checkpoint south of the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon, Associated Press journalists saw a convoy of ICRC vehicles heading toward the Naqoura border crossing Friday morning and later return, then enter a Lebanese army barracks in Tyre. Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed Ghazi’s release and thanked the US for its role, saying 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.

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US and Aoun react

The United States Embassy in Lebanon said it welcomed Israel’s release of prisoners within the trilateral framework between Lebanon and Israel and urged both sides to build on the momentum in preparation for the next round of talks. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the release of the first batch of detainees held by Israel “reaffirms the viability of Lebanon’s steadfast stance,” stressing the continuation of the process to restore full sovereignty of his country. A Lebanese official in the village of Halta told the BBC that Israeli forces called three farmers on their mobile phones and instructed them to report to a location, where they were detained and taken away.

The BBC also reported that Malek Ghazi was handed over at the Naqoura crossing before being taken to an army intelligence facility in Tyre for a medical examination, while Israel’s prime minister’s office said four other civilians due to be released on Friday had been questioned and found to have no links to armed groups. Even as the releases proceeded, the ICRC said it has not had access to detainees held in Israel since October 2023 and called for information about detainees, deceased, or missing persons due to armed conflict.

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What remains at stake

The detainee and missing-persons issue remained unresolved as the ICRC said “Many families in Lebanon are still waiting for answers about the fate of loved ones who may be detained, deceased or otherwise unaccounted for,” and it noted it has not had access to detainees held in Israel since October 2023. In Halta, Issa Abdel-Al said Israeli forces raided the area early Thursday, interrogated residents, and seized a member of the municipal council and two other local men, and he said “We have six captives they’ve taken from this village and we don’t know anything about their fate.” The BBC reported that more than 30 Lebanese are still believed to be in Israeli custody as negotiations remain stalled over a framework involving Hezbollah's disarmament, an Israeli withdrawal and the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south.

In parallel, Israel’s office linked the prisoner releases to efforts to locate the remains of leaders of the Jewish community abducted and killed during the civil war, while Netanyahu’s office said the five released after interrogation were found not to be “members of a terrorist organization” or “involved in terrorism.” Elsewhere in southern Lebanon, Al-Arabi al-Jadid reported that an Israeli drone strike targeted two people on a motorcycle near the Engineers Syndicate building in the city of Nabatieh, and the National News Agency said ambulance teams transported the bodies to a Nabatieh hospital.

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