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 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 R...