Lebanese Civilians Held Hostage by Israel: Families Still Seeking Answers

I attended an event last night at the Noor Islamic Cultural Center in Hilliard about Palestinian hostages held by Israel. The event was sponsored by Baladna, a newly established nonprofit organization that seeks to advance the Palestinian cause and promote Palestinian rights in Central Ohio.

The speakers were Ali Milhem, a Palestinian American, and Ahmad Aboukar, a Lebanese American attorney. The event was well organized and informative. However, there was no mention of Lebanese hostages held by Israel. For that reason, I would like to shed some light on this issue.

According to Lebanese human-rights organizations and other reports, Israeli forces have detained Lebanese civilians during military operations in and around southern Lebanon over the past several years. Israel has characterized some of those detained as combatants or security threats, while Lebanese officials and human-rights groups have disputed some of those characterizations and have raised concerns about the detention of civilians.

There is no publicly available, comprehensive official list covering all Lebanese citizens detained by Israel during the recent conflicts. However, Lebanese sources and committees working on individual cases have compiled lists of detainees. Reuters reported earlier this month that 35 Lebanese hostages remained in Israeli custody, including 20 civilians.

The fate of Lebanese hostages has also become part of U.S.-mediated negotiations between Israel and Lebanon. On September 3, Israel began releasing one Lebanese hostage and promised to release four more if Lebanon would help locating and recovering the remains of Lebanese Jewish community leaders killed in Lebanon in the 1980s. 

Basically, neither Israel nor the US give a shit about Lebanese hostages. All what they care about is disarming Hezbollah and Lebanon recognition of the shit hole in the Middle East. 

In May, Israeli soldiers reportedly detained three farmers from the Atiyyeh family while they were working their land in the area of Halta, near Kfarchouba. Lubna Salha, a member of the Kfarchouba municipality, said the village had repeatedly sought information about their whereabouts through the Red Cross and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL.

“We know that they’re not involved in anything and have no political affiliations with anyone. They are laborers. They just work to make a living and provide for their families,” she said, according to reporting on the case. 

More than four months later, according to that report, their fate remained unknown.

“We’re sitting in our houses and there are Israeli flags on the hills and villages around us,” Salha said. “We’re surrounded from four sides.” 

The issue is not simply about numbers. Behind every detainee is a family waiting for information, confirmation of their loved one's whereabouts and, ultimately, their safe return.

The National Human Rights Commission of Lebanon has documented numerous cases of Lebanese citizens being detained or abducted by Israeli forces in Lebanese territory and border areas. Its 2025 report describes cases involving fishermen, farmers, shepherds and other civilians. The commission also reported allegations of mistreatment and expressed concern about the lack of transparency surrounding the identities and whereabouts of detainees. 

The Legal Agenda, a Lebanese legal organization, has likewise argued that the detention of Lebanese citizens has increasingly become part of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon. It has characterized the use of detainees as leverage in negotiations as potentially amounting to hostage-taking under international law. That is a legal interpretation advanced by the organization and should be distinguished from the positions of the Israeli government and other parties to the dispute.

What is clear is that the issue has now become part of formal negotiations. In January 2025, the United States announced that it would mediate discussions concerning Lebanese hostages taken after October 7, 2023. The June 2026 U.S.-mediated framework between Israel and Lebanon also included commitments concerning detainees and the search for and return of remains.

List of civilian hostages:

*  Ali Younes (Hermel)
Abducted from Wadi al-Hujeir on Dec 19, 2024

* Fouad Qattaya (al-Qasr)
Abducted from Wadi al-Hujeir on Dec 19, 2024

* Hussein Karaki (Khirbet Selm)
Abducted from Markaba on Jan 26, 2025

* Hassan Hammoud (Taybeh)
Abducted from Taybeh on Jan 27, 2025

* Ali Tarhini (Jibshit)
Abducted from Odaisseh on Jan 28, 2025

* Mohammad Jheir (Naqoura)
Abducted at sea on Feb 2, 2025

* Murtada Mhanna (Maroun al-Ras)
Abducted on Feb 16, 2025

* Ali Fneish (Maaroub)
Abducted at sea on Jun 4, 2025

* Maher Hamdan (Shebaa)
Abducted from Shebaa on Jun 7, 2025

Imad Amhaz (Hermel)
Abducted in Batroun on Nov 1, 2024

Source: Al-Akhbar- English

As of this writing, reports indicate that Lebanon does not hold Israeli prisoners of war from the current conflict. Meanwhile, Lebanese hostages and captured resistance fighters remain in Israeli custody, and their families continue to seek information about their status and whereabouts.

Thirty-five people. Thirty-five families. And, apparently, answering a very simple question—Where are they?—has proved extraordinarily difficult.

I know something about the pain of not knowing.

My father was taken by Israeli forces in 1948, and my younger brother was taken in 1982. Each was held for approximately 18 months. I know the pain and agony of not knowing whether you will ever see your loved one again. I know the relief and joy that come when a family finally sees its loved one walk free.

I was once there.

That is why I believe the question of Lebanese hostages deserves attention—not only from Lebanon, Israel and the United States, but from anyone who believes that basic human rights should apply to all people.

Human rights should not depend on nationality.

Families deserve to know where their loved ones are. They deserve information about their condition and legal status. And where people have been detained unlawfully, they deserve due process and, where appropriate, release.

For those who wish to raise this issue with U.S. officials and Israeli representatives, I encourage them to do so firmly, peacefully and respectfully. As an American taxpayer, I believe citizens have every right to ask how U.S. diplomatic efforts and taxpayer-funded policies affect the treatment of Lebanese and Palestinian hostages.

The question is simple: Where are they, and when will they be allowed to go home?

Mahmoud El-Yousseph is a Palestinian freelance writer and retired U.S. Air Force veteran. He writes about U.S. foreign policy, Middle Eastern affairs and justice.