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Israeli media reported that the man’s family had reported him
missing around a year ago and was unaware he was in Lebanon.
Lebanon's General Security agency said in a statement that
Abu-Hussein was held after crossing the border into Lebanon
illegally. It said he was trying to leave Israel “due to his
unwillingness to live there" and was arrested by Lebanon's Army
Intelligence forces.
“After conducting the necessary investigation, under the
supervision of the competent judiciary, no security suspicions
were proven against him,” the statement said. Due to his
nationality, Abu-Hussein could not be “deported or released as
is the standard procedure for non-Lebanese who enter illegally.”
He was eventually handed over to the International Committee of
the Red Cross to be returned.
At the time of his crossing, Israeli forces and the Lebanese
militant group Hezbollah were engaged in ongoing low-level
clashes in the border region, which escalated into a full-scale
war in September 2024. It was halted by a U.S.-brokered
ceasefire two months later.
Abu-Hussein's release was negotiated in secret over the past few
months in cooperation with the Red Cross, according to Gal
Hirsch, Netanyahu’s coordinator for the Hostages and the
Missing, who is also Israel’s point of contact for the hostages
in Gaza.
On Thursday, Lebanese Authorities handed Abu-Hussein to Hirsch
at the Rosh Hanikra crossing between Lebanon and Israel, which
is not open to the public.
Lebanon and Israel do not have diplomatic relations and Israeli
citizens are prohibited from entering Lebanon under Lebanese
law, with rare exceptions for Palestinians holding Israeli
citizenship.
Netanyahu hailed the return of Abu-Hussein. “This is a positive
step and a sign of things to come,” he said after Abu-Hussein
returned.
There was no official comment from the Lebanese government on
his release apart from the General Security statement.
A group advocating for Lebanese citizens held in Israeli prisons
denounced the move. The Representative Committee of Lebanese
Prisoners and Freed Prisoners said in a statement that 19
Lebanese citizens are imprisoned in Israel and called the
release of the Israeli citizen by Lebanon “blatant betrayal.”
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Sewell reported from Beirut.
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