Israel releases Lebanese civilian, says five prisoners will be freed

The released prisoner, identified as Malek Ghazi, is the first Lebanese citizen held by Israel to be set free since talks began.Israel has released one Lebanese civilian detainee and has pledged to free five prisoners, the first such handover since the outbreak of the latest Israel-Hezbollah-war" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="112320" data-entity-type="event">Israel-Hezbollah war six months ago.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Thursday that Israel agreed to release the Lebanese civilians held by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon after Beirut helped search for the bodies of Lebanese Jewish leaders who were “abducted and murdered by terrorist organisations” in the 1980s.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Israel continues attacks on Syria, Lebanon despite US push for diplomacylist 2 of 3Israeli strike kills ‘newlywed’ woman in south Lebanon, wounds otherslist 3 of 3US designates Hezbollah an Iranian proxy, sanctions funding networkend of listNetanyahu’s statement added that after being interrogated, the five detainees were found not to be “members of a terrorist organisation” or “involved in terrorism”.The first released prisoner, identified as Malek Ghazi, was handed over to the Lebanese army via the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a Lebanese security official said.Ghazi was handed over to the ICRC at the border crossing in the southern Lebanese coastal town of Naqoura. He was then transferred to a Lebanese army intelligence office in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported.Ghazi’s family, hailing from the southeastern town of Ain Ata near the southern border village of Shebaa, said last October that they had lost contact with him after he went out to exercise.He is the first citizen held by Israel to be released since US-brokered negotiations between Beirut and Tel Aviv began in April.Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam hailed the release in a statement, thanking “the American administration … for the efforts exerted in this regard”.