Israel has begun releasing five Lebanese civilians detained during operations in southern Lebanon, linking the move to Beirut’s cooperation in a four-decade search for Jewish community leaders abducted and murdered by terrorist organizations during Lebanon’s civil war.

The first detainee, Malek Kamal Ghazi, was transferred through the International Committee of the Red Cross at the Naqoura crossing and handed over to the Lebanese Army. Lebanese officials said the remaining four were expected to follow. Israel determined after questioning that none of the five belonged to a terrorist organization or had participated in terrorism.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he instructed officials to intensify efforts to locate and return the victims’ remains. Israel has reportedly supplied Lebanon with maps, cemetery photographs, aerial imagery and other intelligence pointing to possible burial locations in Beirut and Sidon. Officials from both countries have also conducted activity on the ground as part of the search.

The victims belonged to Lebanon’s own Jewish community, which once numbered many thousands. Beginning in 1984, armed terrorists seized prominent Jews from the streets of West Beirut. Among them was Isaac Sasson, president of the Jewish community, who was kidnapped at gunpoint after returning from a business trip. Other victims included physician Dr. Elie Hallak, community secretary Salim Jammous and Elie Srour, who prepared Jewish dead for burial.

Several abductions were claimed by the Organization of the Oppressed on Earth, a Shiite terrorist network historically associated with the cells from which Hezbollah emerged. The terrorists accused some captives of working for Israel, allegations their families firmly rejected. Many were elderly Lebanese civilians whose families had lived in the country for generations. Most of their bodies were never returned.

Israel has now elevated their fate inside its direct negotiations with Lebanon. Officials reportedly assembled an intelligence file containing aerial photographs and information on potential burial sites, while Israel’s coordinator for prisoners and missing persons, Brig. Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch, has remained in contact with victims’ relatives. Jerusalem also pressed for the search to be incorporated into the U.S.-mediated framework governing the talks.

Washington described the release as the product of U.S.-led mediation between the Israeli and Lebanese governments and expressed hope that it could open wider discussions on civilian issues. The breakthrough remains limited: the broader negotiations are still divided over the disarmament of Iran-backed Hezbollah and the conditions for a complete Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon. Further talks are expected in Rome.

The five-detainee release will not resolve that confrontation. But it has forced a long-buried truth back into view: the terrorist networks that accompanied Hezbollah’s rise did not target Israelis alone. They hunted Lebanon’s own Jews, devastated an ancient community and left families waiting decades for a grave.