The US has commended Lebanon and Israel over a plan for the release of five Lebanese citizens detained in occupied southern Lebanon.
The move indicated a renewed diplomatic push between the countries, as Washington seeks to enable further dialogue before negotiations in Rome. Talks have stalled but reports suggest officials from the countries could meet in Italy this month.
US optimism remains, despite Israel abducting three more people from a Lebanese village.
The Israeli military admitted the five people to be released were civilians “not engaged in terrorism”.
The move is linked to talks over the return of the bodies of Jewish community leaders killed in Lebanon in the 1980s, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.
Lebanon welcomed the release brokered by the US. The first handover took place on Thursday evening and Lebanese reports said the other four detainees were to be released on Friday morning.
'State of terror'
But the announcement came on the same day that Israel launched a raid in occupied southern Lebanon. The latest abductions took place in Halta, near the occupied Golan Heights, and lasted for hours, local officials and witnesses told The National.
Halta is a mainly Sunni community and one of the few inhabited villages inside Israel’s so-called security zone in southern Lebanon. Israeli troops entered houses on the outskirts of the village at dawn and ordered about a dozen villagers to report for questioning, amid bursts of gunfire, witnesses said.
Three residents were then taken away. Villagers said they endured four hours of “pure terror”.
“We don’t know why they took them after that, or where they are now,” local official Haitham Abdel Aal, whose brother was abducted, told The National.
He said Iran-backed Hezbollah had no military presence in the village. It was unclear whether the villagers abducted in Halta were among those to be released.
The first of the five to be freed was Malek Ghazi, who had been missing since October last year.
He was handed over to the Lebanese army with help from the International Committee of the Red Cross, after Israeli troops released him at the Naqoura crossing, the National News Agency reported.
Mr Ghazi, a resident of Ayn Atta, was arrested while walking near Mount Hermon. “After completing their interrogation, it became clear that they were citizens who were not members of a terrorist organisation, did not engage in terrorism, and there is no reason for their continued detention in Israel,” Mr Netanyahu’s office said.
A US State Department official said the release was finalised in talks on Wednesday between Mr Netanyahu and the US ambassadors to Israel and Lebanon.
Washington hopes the agreement “will serve as the basis for expanded discussions”, the official said.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam thanked the US administration and ambassador Michel Issa for their efforts. “The safe return home of any freed Lebanese citizen represents an important step towards resolving this issue,” Mr Salam said.
Extensive raids
Mr Abdel Aal said about 300 military personnel were sent into Halta at about 6.30am.
The unit took over three houses, gathered their residents in a courtyard and conducted extensive searches. “They did not leave anything untouched,” he said.
The National News Agency reported that Israeli troops surrounded homes and prevented residents from leaving.
Soldiers used a loudspeaker to issue orders for residents to remain in their homes “for their safety”.
A dozen phone calls were made to residents inside. Some did not answer.
Mr Abdel Aal said he was confident his brother would be released. “He has done nothing wrong,” he said.
Thursday’s raid brings the number of people abducted in Halta to seven since March 2. There is no official tally of Lebanese people held by Israel.
The Lebanese Association for Prisoners and Released Detainees said last month that it counted 36 cases. Their fate has been raised during direct talks between Lebanon and Israel in Washington and Rome in recent months.
A Lebanese source said last month that Israel appeared to be unwilling to “make any breakthrough” on the issue, but it might allow the Red Cross to visit the detainees.
In March last year, the Lebanese presidency announced a deal to release five people detained during the 2024 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
