Israel announced Thursday the release of five civilians captured in southern Lebanon, where it is at war with the pro-Iranian Hezbollah group, with one man already handed over to the Lebanese army.
Lebanon said its army had received a man returned by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the first since Beirut called in August talks for the release of an initial group seized since the start of a 2024 Israel-Hezbollah war.
"It was decided to release five Lebanese civilians who were arrested in areas under (Israeli army) control in southern Lebanon," the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
"After their interrogation was completed, it became clear that they are civilians who are not members of any terrorist organization, have not engaged in terrorism, and there is no reason to continue holding them in Israel."
A Lebanese official told AFP on Thursday that the release of the four other civilians -- two Lebanese and two Syrians -- was postponed to Friday.
Their release is a prelude to the continuation of Lebanon-Israel talks in Rome, the official added, requesting anonymity.
Lebanese authorities have not officially announced the number of citizens Israel seized during that war and a subsequent 2026 conflict, but a list of more than 30 people has been compiled by their families and a committee working on their cases.
The list includes at least one Syrian national and several Hezbollah fighters.
Netanyahu's office said the decision followed "extensive efforts" by Israel and Lebanon to locate and return the bodies of leaders of Lebanon's Jewish community abducted and killed in the 1980s during the country's 15-year civil war.
After the latest round of Lebanon-Israel talks in Rome last month, a Lebanese official said Israel gave Beirut a list of individuals to demand the return of their remains.
The Israeli military said in August it recovered the remains of a soldier killed in eastern Lebanon in 1982.
- 'Humanitarian operation' -
The ICRC, which handles the transfer of released people between Israel and Lebanon, said a humanitarian operation was underway.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said that the Lebanese army received Malek Ghazi earlier on Thursday, adding that he was taken to an army intelligence headquarters in the southern city of Tyre.
Ghazi's family, from the southeastern town of Ain Ata, said in October last year that they had lost contact with him after he had gone out to exercise.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam hailed the release, thanking "the American administration... for the efforts exerted in this regard".
He pledged to work "until the release of all our prisoners" and "the disclosure of the fate of the missing", as well as an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory.
The United States, which is sponsoring the Lebanon-Israel talks, commended through a State Department spokesperson both Israel and Lebanon "for demonstrating good faith through these initial steps" and added it hoped "this will serve as the basis for expanded discussions on other civilian issues".
Hezbollah attacked Israel in 2023 in support of Hamas after the outbreak of the Gaza war, leading to over a year of hostilities that escalated into a full-blown war in 2024.
The group drew Lebanon into the Middle East war two years later in support of its backer Iran after launching rockets at Israel.
Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion that Lebanon says have killed more than 4,300 people.
The conflict has calmed since a US-Iran memorandum of understanding and a framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon agreed in June.
The Lebanon-Israel deal calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in "pilot zones".
A date has not yet been set for the next round of Lebanon-Israel talks, and Israel still carries out strikes on Lebanon while occupying parts of its territory.
