Prime Minister’s Office:
As part of the negotiations with Lebanon, Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed officials to advance efforts to locate and return the bodies of the leaders of Lebanon’s Jewish community—the martyrs who were abducted and murdered by terrorist organizations in the mid-1980s.
The Prime Minister has been involved in this issue for decades, dating back to his tenure as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations.
In recent months, numerous efforts have been undertaken to locate them, by both Lebanon and Israel, including operations on the ground. In light of these significant efforts, it was decided to release five Lebanese civilians who had been detained in areas of southern Lebanon under IDF control. After their questioning was completed, it was determined that they are civilians who are not members of a terrorist organization, were not involved in terrorism, and that there is no reason to continue holding them in Israel.