Israel frees first of 5 Lebanese prisoners amid effort to return bodies of murdered Jewish community leaders

The Israeli government has approved the release of five Lebanese citizens who were detained on suspicion of being affiliated with Hezbollah, as part of an effort to locate and return the bodies of Lebanese Jewish community leaders who were murdered in the eighties.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Thursday confirmed earlier media reports, saying that he “as part of the negotiations with Lebanon… instructed that efforts be advanced to locate and repatriate the bodies of the leaders of the Jewish community in Lebanon, who were abducted and murdered by terrorist organizations in the mid-1980s.”

“In recent months, numerous operations have been carried out to locate them, both by Lebanon and Israel, including field operations,” the statement said.

The first of the five citizens was released on Thursday, with the other four set to be transferred to Lebanon on Friday, according to media reports. Their release is reportedly meant as a measure of goodwill from the Israeli side, in anticipation of progress on the location of the Jewish leaders’ bodies.

The statement noted that the five “were detained in areas under IDF control in southern Lebanon” during the fighting in recent months.

“Following the completion of their interrogation, it became clear that they are civilians who are not members of a terrorist organization, were not engaged in terrorism, and that there is no reason to continue holding them in Israel.”

According to Arabic-language media reports, the man handed over to the Lebanese army via the Red Cross on Thursday was identified as Malek Ghazi. A Lebanese official has told the AFP that over 30 Lebanese citizens were detained by Israel amid fighting since 2024.

Thursday’s release comes two days after Netanyahu met U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, in Jerusalem together with the local U.S. ambassador, Mike Huckabee, to discuss the ongoing negotiations between Lebanon and Israel.

It also followed several reports in recent days suggesting that Israel is disappointed with the Lebanese army’s deployment and lack of effective operations in the pilot zones in southern Lebanon, which were devised as a confidence-building step toward a full Israeli withdrawal.

However, Israeli defense officials assess that the Lebanese Army (LAF) has no interest in confronting Hezbollah and is therefore preparing for a continued stay of the IDF in the area.

The U.S. State Department meanwhile praised the Israeli move. “Israel is releasing detainees, and Lebanon is helping Israel recover the lost remains of Lebanese Jews,” a State Department official told media outlets.

The official further lauded the two sides for “demonstrating good faith through these initial steps, and hopes this will serve as the basis for expanded discussions on other civilian issues.”

According to i24 News, citing a source familiar with the matter, Israel recently requested Beirut to demonstrate “concrete steps” toward locating the bodies of the Jewish community leaders, transferring maps and photographs of cemeteries and other sites to help Lebanese authorities investigate them.

Another source familiar with the details added: “There is still a long way to go, but this is a good start.”

According to the report, Israel had already prepared an intelligence dossier on the “12 martyrs” with intelligence information, aerial photographs, and additional material that could help locate the burial sites before the ongoing rounds of negotiations with Beirut were launched.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu made this issue one of the central issues in the talks with the Lebanese,” an Israeli source told i24 News. The report also noted that Brig.-Gen. Gal Hirsch, the Coordinator for Prisoners and Missing Persons, is in direct contact with the families and recently met with a relative of one of the victims.