Israel releases Lebanese civilian, says five prisoners will be freed

The released prisoner, identified as Malek Ghazi, is the first Lebanese citizen held by Israel to be set free since talks began.

Smoke rises as Israeli forces demolish homes in al-Mansouri village, southern Lebanon on September 3, 2026 [Mohammed Zaatari/AP Photo]

Israel has released one Lebanese civilian detainee and has pledged to free five prisoners, the first such handover since the outbreak of the latest Israel-Hezbollah war six months ago.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Thursday that Israel agreed to release the Lebanese civilians held by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon after Beirut helped search for the bodies of Lebanese Jewish leaders who were “abducted and murdered by terrorist organisations” in the 1980s.

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Netanyahu’s statement added that after being interrogated, the five detainees were found not to be “members of a terrorist organisation” or “involved in terrorism”.

The first released prisoner, identified as Malek Ghazi, was handed over to the Lebanese army via the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a Lebanese security official said.

Ghazi was handed over to the ICRC at the border crossing in the southern Lebanese coastal town of Naqoura. He was then transferred to a Lebanese army intelligence office in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported.

Ghazi’s family, hailing from the southeastern town of Ain Ata near the southern border village of Shebaa, said last October that they had lost contact with him after he went out to exercise.

He is the first citizen held by Israel to be released since US-brokered negotiations between Beirut and Tel Aviv began in April .

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam hailed the release in a statement, thanking “the American administration … for the efforts exerted in this regard”.

Salam pledged to continue working “until the release of all our prisoners, the disclosure of the fate of the missing, and the achievement of a complete Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory”.

Reports at least 30 people held by Israel

In its last round of negotiations with Israel in August, Lebanon demanded the release of detainees held by Israel since the 2024 war between Israel and Hezbollah, a Lebanese official told the AFP news agency at the time.

Lebanese authorities have not announced the number of citizens held by Israel since 2024, but a list of more than 30 people has been compiled by their families and a committee following up on their cases.

After Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, clashes between the Israeli army and Hezbollah began. This led to over a year of hostilities that escalated into a full-blown war in 2024.

Two years later, Lebanon was fully drawn into the conflict after the US and Israel launched a war on Iran when Hezbollah, a key ally of Iran, fired rockets into Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israel responded with heavy air strikes and a ground invasion that have killed more than 4,300 people in Lebanon.

Violence has slowed since a US-Iran memorandum of understanding provided for a “ceasefire” in June, followed by an agreement between Israel and Lebanon later that same month.

The Lebanon-Israel deal calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in “pilot zones”.

While another round of talks is expected to take place in Rome later this month, Israel continues to launch attacks across southern Lebanon.

On Thursday, Israeli forces advanced into Halta village in southeastern Lebanon near the border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported. Israeli drones also flew over the Tyre region at dawn.

Israeli forces also carried out detonations in the south-central towns of Haddatha and Baraachit in Nabatieh governorate and demolished homes in the coastal southern town of al-Mansouri, the news agency reported.

获释的囚犯名叫马利克·加齐，他是自谈判开始以来第一位被以色列释放的黎巴嫩公民。

2026年9月3日，以色列军队在黎巴嫩南部曼苏里村拆毁房屋，浓烟滚滚。[穆罕默德·扎塔里/美联社照片]

以色列释放了一名黎巴嫩平民被拘留者，并承诺释放五名囚犯，这是自六个月前以色列与真主党爆发最新战争以来的首次此类移交。

以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡周四发表声明称，在贝鲁特协助寻找上世纪 80 年代被“恐怖组织绑架和谋杀”的黎巴嫩犹太领袖的遗体后，以色列同意释放被以色列军队扣押在黎巴嫩南部的黎巴嫩平民。

列表1/3：尽管美国推动外交斡旋，以色列仍继续袭击叙利亚和黎巴嫩

以色列空袭黎巴嫩南部，造成一名“新婚”女子死亡，另有多人受伤（共3条记录，此为第2条）。

美国将真主党列为伊朗代理人，并制裁其资金网络（名单共3份，此为第3份）。

内塔尼亚胡的声明还补充说，经过审讯，这五名被拘留者被认定为“恐怖组织成员”或“参与恐怖主义活动”。

一名黎巴嫩安全官员表示，首名获释囚犯名叫马利克·加齐，已通过红十字国际委员会（ICRC）移交给黎巴嫩军队。

据黎巴嫩国家通讯社报道，加齐在黎巴嫩南部沿海城镇纳库拉的边境口岸被移交给红十字国际委员会，随后被转移到位于南部港口城市提尔的黎巴嫩军方情报部门。

加齐的家人来自东南部城镇艾因阿塔，靠近南部边境村庄谢巴。去年十月，他们表示，加齐外出锻炼后，他们就与他失去了联系。

他是自美国斡旋贝鲁特和特拉维夫于 4 月开始谈判以来，首位被以色列拘留并获释的公民。

黎巴嫩总理纳瓦夫·萨拉姆在一份声明中对此次释放表示欢迎，并感谢“美国政府……在这方面所做的努力”。

萨拉姆承诺将继续努力，“直到所有战俘获释，失踪人员的命运水落石出，以及以色列军队完全撤出黎巴嫩领土”。

据报道，以色列至少拘留了30人。

黎巴嫩一名官员当时告诉法新社，在8月份与以色列的最后一轮谈判中，黎巴嫩要求以色列释放自2024年以色列与真主党之间的战争以来被以色列关押的人员。

黎巴嫩当局尚未公布自 2024 年以来被以色列扣押的公民人数，但他们的家人和一个负责跟进他们案件的委员会已经编制了一份包含 30 多人的名单。

2023年10月，以色列对加沙发动种族灭绝战争后，以色列军队与真主党之间开始发生冲突。这导致长达一年多的敌对行动，并在2024年升级为全面战争。

两年后，美国和以色列对伊朗发动战争，黎巴嫩也因此全面卷入冲突。起因是伊朗的重要盟友真主党向以色列发射火箭弹，以报复伊朗最高领袖阿亚图拉·阿里·哈梅内伊遇刺身亡。以色列随即发动猛烈空袭和地面入侵，造成黎巴嫩超过4300人死亡。

自6月份美伊签署“停火”谅解备忘录以来，暴力事件有所减少；同月晚些时候，以色列和黎巴嫩也达成了协议。

黎巴嫩-以色列协议要求真主党解除武装，以色列军队逐步从黎巴嫩南部撤出，黎巴嫩军队向该地区部署，首先从“试点区”开始。

尽管预计本月晚些时候将在罗马举行新一轮会谈，但以色列仍在黎巴嫩南部发动袭击。

据黎巴嫩国家通讯社报道，周四，以色列军队推进至黎巴嫩东南部靠近以色列占领的戈兰高地边界的哈尔塔村。以色列无人机也在黎明时分飞越了提尔地区。

据该通讯社报道，以色列军队还在纳巴泰省中南部城镇哈达萨和巴拉希特进行了爆炸，并拆毁了南部沿海城镇曼苏里的房屋。