Israel has released a Lebanese man held prisoner in Israel and handed him over to the Lebanese army, marking the first such transfer since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war began six months earlier, according to Lebanese officials, the International Committee of the Red Cross and an Israeli government statement on the event date, September 3, 2026.
The man was identified as Malek Ghazi. A Lebanese security official said he was handed over through the Red Cross, while Lebanon’s state-run news agency reported that the transfer happened at the Naqoura border crossing on Lebanon’s southern frontier before Ghazi was taken to a Lebanese army intelligence office in Tyre.
The release is notable less for the size of the step than for what it signals about the wider negotiations. Israel’s prime minister’s office said Israel had agreed to free five Lebanese civilians detained by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon after Lebanon helped search for the bodies of Lebanese Jewish leaders who were abducted and killed during Lebanon’s civil war. The statement said the five, after interrogation, were not found to be members of a terrorist organisation or involved in terrorism.
Lebanon’s prime minister, Nawaf Salam, thanked the United States and its ambassador to Lebanon for helping secure the release. In his statement, Salam said Lebanon would continue working until all prisoners are released, the fate of missing people is clarified and a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory is achieved. The U.S. State Department said the releases were the result of U.S.-led mediation between the two governments and that they were completed during a recent visit by the U.S. ambassador to Israel.
The prisoner handover comes at a fragile moment. Lebanese officials said they expected the other four detainees to be released the following day. At the same time, Lebanese state media reported that Israeli forces had entered the town of Halta in southern Lebanon and seized three men after surrounding houses and preventing residents from leaving. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The broader talks remain difficult. Lebanon and Israel signed a U.S.-mediated framework deal in June under which Israeli forces were to withdraw from areas they occupy in southern Lebanon in exchange for Hezbollah disarmament, but implementation has been limited. Another round of talks is expected later this month in Rome.
The same conflict has left many smaller disputes unresolved. Lebanon still seeks the return of dozens of prisoners believed to be held in Israeli detention centres, while Israel says it will not withdraw unless Hezbollah is disarmed throughout the country. Hezbollah, which is not a party to the talks, has said it will not give up its weapons north of the Litani river.
That creates a difficult backdrop for even modest gestures. The Ghazi release does not end the conflict, and it does not settle the prisoner or withdrawal questions at the centre of the diplomatic track. But it does show that there is still enough contact between the sides, with U.S. mediation, to produce a limited humanitarian step while the larger security and political issues remain stuck.
For families on both sides of the frontier, that may be little comfort. For negotiators, it may be proof that a channel still exists, even if the road to a broader deal remains blocked.
