US Reopens File of Hezbollah's American Hostage Taking in Beirut

The national flag flies over the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, Aug. 8, 2021. (AFP)
The national flag flies over the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, Aug. 8, 2021. (AFP)
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US Reopens File of Hezbollah's American Hostage Taking in Beirut

The national flag flies over the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, Aug. 8, 2021. (AFP)
The national flag flies over the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, Aug. 8, 2021. (AFP)

The United States has reopened the case of the American hostage crisis during the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990).

The Rewards for Justice program released a reminder of a reward of up to $5 million for information that brings to justice those responsible for these attacks.

"Numerous kidnappings and murders were a part of the decade-long Lebanese hostage crisis undertaken by Hezbollah-related terrorists. The hostage crisis lasted from 1982 to 1992," it said on its website.

"On March 16, 1984, terrorists kidnapped William Buckley, the CIA Station Chief in Beirut. Buckley was interrogated, tortured and held captive for 15 months before the estimated date of his death."

"On December 3, 1984, American University of Beirut librarian Peter Kilburn was reported missing. Sixteen months later, he and two other captives were shot and killed, their bodies dumped in the mountains east of Beirut."

"On February 17, 1988, terrorists kidnapped Col. William Higgins from his United Nations peacekeeping vehicle. As a hostage, Col. Higgins was interrogated and tortured before being killed. The exact date of his death is unknown."

Diplomatic sources in Beirut told Asharq Al-Awsat that this was not the first time such a reward has been put up.

American University of Beirut history professor Dr. Makram Rabah said that period of the civil was "very critical" because it witnessed the birth of Hezbollah.

The kidnappings during the war were carried out by various parties, such as the "Islamic Jihad" and others, he continued. Hezbollah never declared its responsibility for kidnappings.

Everyone was aware of Iran's role in the hostage-taking of foreigners, especially under the term of President Ronald Reagan, he added.

He noted the "Irangate" affair, which was an attempt by Tehran to eliminate the US role in Lebanon, whether through bombing the Marine headquarters or by taking hostages.

Rabah said it was significant that Washington is bringing up the hostage crisis again at a time when nuclear negotiations with Iran have resumed in Vienna.

Hezbollah and all other Iranian militias are not being discussed at the negotiations. Washington's terrorist designation of pro-Iran militias that are responsible for the murder of Americans, whether through kidnappings or bombings, is also not up for negotiations or discussion, added Rabah.

The 1980s were the darkest years of the Lebanese civil war. Over a hundred foreigners are estimated to have been kidnapped in Lebanon between 1982 and 1992. The majority of the victims were Americans and western Europeans. Eight victims died in captivity: some were killed and others died from lack of sufficient medical care.

An FBI report in 1994 held Hezbollah responsible for the hostage-taking of at least 44 foreigners, including 17 Americans, three of whom died in captivity.



Israeli Army Orders Gaza City Suburb Evacuated, Spurring New Displacement Wave

A Palestinian man points at a damaged building in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on November 20, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A Palestinian man points at a damaged building in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on November 20, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Israeli Army Orders Gaza City Suburb Evacuated, Spurring New Displacement Wave

A Palestinian man points at a damaged building in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on November 20, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A Palestinian man points at a damaged building in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on November 20, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders to residents in areas of an eastern Gaza City suburb, setting off a new wave of displacement on Sunday, and a Gaza hospital director was injured in an Israeli drone attack, Palestinian medics said.
The new orders for the Shejaia suburb posted by the Israeli army spokesperson on X on Saturday night were blamed on Palestinian militants firing rockets from that heavily built-up district in the north of the Gaza Strip.
"For your safety, you must evacuate immediately to the south," the military's post said. The rocket volley on Saturday was claimed by Hamas' armed wing, which said it had targeted an Israeli army base over the border.
Footage circulated on social and Palestinian media, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed residents leaving Shejaia on donkey carts and rickshaws, with others, including children carrying backpacks, walking.
Families living in the targeted areas began fleeing their homes after nightfall on Saturday and into Sunday's early hours, residents and Palestinian media said - the latest in multiple waves of displacement since the war began 13 months ago.
In central Gaza, health officials said at least 10 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the urban camps of Al-Maghazi and Al-Bureij since Saturday night.
HOSPITAL DIRECTOR WOUNDED BY GUNFIRE
In north Gaza, where Israeli forces have been operating against regrouping Hamas militants since early last month, health officials said an Israeli drone dropped bombs on Kamal Adwan Hospital, injuring its director Hussam Abu Safiya.
"This will not stop us from completing our humanitarian mission and we will continue to do this job at any cost," Abu Safiya said in a video statement circulated by the health ministry on Sunday.
"We are being targeted daily. They targeted me a while ago but this will not deter us...," he said from his hospital bed.
Israeli forces say armed militants use civilian buildings including housing blocks, hospitals and schools for operational cover. Hamas denies this, accusing Israeli forces of indiscriminately targeting populated areas.
Kamal Adwan is one of three hospitals in north Gaza that are barely operational as the health ministry said the Israeli forces have detained and expelled medical staff and prevented emergency medical, food and fuel supplies from reaching them.
In the past few weeks, Israel said it had facilitated the delivery of medical and fuel supplies and the transfer of patients from north Gaza hospitals in collaboration with international agencies such as the World Health Organization.
Residents in three embattled north Gaza towns - Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun - said Israeli forces had blown up hundreds of houses since renewing operations in an area that Israel said months ago had been cleared of militants.
Palestinians say Israel appears determined to depopulate the area permanently to create a buffer zone along the northern edge of Gaza, an accusation Israel denies.
Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed more than 44,000 people, uprooted nearly all the enclave's 2.3 million population at least once, according to Gaza officials, while reducing wide swathes of the narrow coastal territory to rubble.
The war erupted in response to a cross-border attack by Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023 in which gunmen killed around 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.