As the US-brokered Israel-Lebanon talks get underway for September, a new deal has been reached, which US officials are framing as a “good faith measure” and what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is calling an “exchange,” five Lebanese civilians captured by the Israeli government will be released.
The first of the five, Malek Ghazi, was released by the Israelis early Thursday, where they brought him to the border crossing and handed him to the Red Cross, ending nearly a year in detention. Ghazi was reportedly captured in October of 2025, which notably was several months before the current invasion and occupation began.
The details of Ghazi’s initial capture aren’t entirely clear, but his family in Ain Ata, in Bekaa Governorate, lost contact with him in October. Israeli officials said they’d confirmed he and the others they intend to release were neither Hezbollah members nor the members of any other “terrorist group.”
Israeli troops operate in southern Lebanon on January 23, 2025, over a year before the current invasion began. (Photo released by the IDF)
But just because he wasn’t actually guilty of anything doesn’t mean he couldn’t be held for at least 10 months and doesn’t mean they’re going to release him without anything in return. Rather, Netanyahu says, Lebanon promised to provide them information and help them locate Lebanese Jewish leaders they believe died in the 1980s during the Lebanese Civil War.
Just last month, Israel had reportedly broached the possibility of Lebanon agreeing to exhume every ancient Jewish cemetery in the country and “returning” all the remains to Israel in return for the prisoners. This appears to be well short of that plan, which appeared broadly to be a non-starter.
At the same time, Israel isn’t releasing all of the Lebanese detainees they confirmed to be innocent civilians, either. Ghazi was the first, and officials suggest four more are coming Friday. At the same time, Israel is holding some 35 other Lebanese people, 20 of whom have been confirmed to be civilians and won’t be released as part of this deal.
Ghazi, for his part, isn’t ready to rejoin society in occupied southern Lebanon just yet, as the Red Cross transferred him to a Lebanese Army intelligence office in Tyre. His current condition, having endured at least 10 months in detention, is unknown, but he stands as the first detainee Israel has released since the March occupation began.
