De-escalation: Israel Releases Malek Kamal Ghazi to Lebanon

Israel released Malek Kamal Ghazi on Thursday after holding him in Israel. He was transferred to the Lebanese army through the Red Cross and taken for medical examinations. It is the first prisoner handover since the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah began six months ago.

Israel has agreed to free five Lebanese civilians in total as part of an understanding tied to efforts to find and identify remains from Lebanon’s civil war era, including Lebanese Jewish community leaders missing since the 1980s. That agreement followed Lebanese assistance in the search.

Four more Lebanese detainees were due to be handed over later Thursday at the Naqoura gate to the Red Cross for transfer to the Lebanese army. That would complete the five agreed releases.

AI-synthesized from multiple reported sources