An Israeli citizen detained in Lebanon has been returned to Israel after more than a year in detention, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Thursday.
There was little information given about the man, identified as Salah Abu-Hussein, an Arab citizen of Israel. His imprisonment had not garnered public attention in Israel or Lebanon.
Israeli media reported that the man’s family had reported him missing around a year ago and was unaware he was in Lebanon, reported The Associated Press.
Lebanon's General Security agency said in a statement that Abu-Hussein was held after crossing the border into Lebanon illegally. It said he was trying to leave Israel “due to his unwillingness to live there" and was arrested by Lebanon's Army Intelligence forces.
“After conducting the necessary investigation, under the supervision of the competent judiciary, no security suspicions were proven against him,” the statement said. Due to his nationality, Abu-Hussein could not be “deported or released as is the standard procedure for non-Lebanese who enter illegally.” He was eventually handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross to be returned.
At the time of his crossing, Israeli forces and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah were engaged in ongoing low-level clashes in the border region, which escalated into a full-scale war in September 2024. It was halted by a US-brokered ceasefire two months later.
Abu-Hussein's release was negotiated in secret over the past few months in cooperation with the Red Cross, according to Gal Hirsch, Netanyahu’s coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing, who is also Israel’s point of contact for the hostages in Gaza.
On Thursday, Lebanese Authorities handed Abu-Hussein to Hirsch at the Rosh Hanikra crossing between Lebanon and Israel, which is not open to the public.
Lebanon and Israel do not have diplomatic relations and Israeli citizens are prohibited from entering Lebanon under Lebanese law, with rare exceptions for Palestinians holding Israeli citizenship.
Netanyahu hailed the return of Abu-Hussein. “This is a positive step and a sign of things to come,” he said after Abu-Hussein returned.
There was no official comment from the Lebanese government on his release apart from the General Security statement.
A group advocating for Lebanese citizens held in Israeli prisons denounced the move. The Representative Committee of Lebanese Prisoners and Freed Prisoners said in a statement that 19 Lebanese citizens are imprisoned in Israel and called the release of the Israeli citizen by Lebanon “blatant betrayal.”
