A Lebanese man held prisoner in Israel has been released and handed over to Lebanese authorities, officials say

BEIRUT (AP) — A Lebanese man who had been held prisoner in Israel was released Thursday, the first such handover since the outbreak of the latest Israel-Hezbollah war six months ago, the International Committee of the Red Cross and two Lebanese security officials said. The man, identified as Malek Ghazi, was handed over to the Lebanese army via the ICRC, one of the Lebanese security officials said. The other official said they were anticipating the release of another prisoner.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that Ghazi was handed over to the ICRC at the border crossing in the coastal town of Naqoura on Lebanon’s southern frontier and was then transferred to a Lebanese army intelligence office in the city of Tyre. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Dozens of Lebanese prisoners are believed to be held in Israeli detention centers, including civilians as well as Hezbollah militants captured during fighting in southern Lebanon. The circumstances of Ghazi’s capture were not immediately clear, but one of the Lebanese officials said he was a civilian. The prisoner release came as talks between Lebanese and Israeli officials had appeared to reach an impasse.

Lebanon and Israel in June signed a U.S.-mediated framework deal under which Israeli forces were to withdraw from areas they are occupying in southern Lebanon in exchange for disarmament of the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, but little progress has been made in implementation on the ground. Another round of talks is expected to take place in Rome later this month. Hezbollah is not a party to the Lebanon-Israel talks and has said it will not give up its weapons in any area north of southern Lebanon’s Litani river.

Israeli officials, meanwhile, have said they will not withdraw unless Hezbollah is disarmed throughout the country. The Lebanese state has been reluctant to attempt to forcibly disarm the militant group, which is also a political party and social services provider with a large popular base in the country’s Shiite Muslim community. Lebanon fought a brutal civil war from 1975 to 1990, and many fear that any clash between the Lebanese army and Hezbollah could spiral into another devastating civil conflict.

Hezbollah and Israel have fought a se… BEIRUT (AP) — A Lebanese man held prisoner in Israel has been released and handed over to Lebanese authorities, officials say.