The Free Lebanese Prisoners Campaign salutes the five liberated prisoners — Malik Ghazi, Ali Shour, Hussein Ayash, Asaad al-Hasika and Wissam al-Samadi — and wishes them the warmest, speediest return to their families, homes and lands, and we demand the immediate release of Hatem Abdel-‘Al, Qassem Abdel-‘Al and Ghazal Abdel-‘Al. The liberation of prisoners is not a favor granted by the United States or the Zionist regime, it is a right that belongs to every free person held by the occupier, and the occupation’s aggressive intentions are clear in its abduction of three more Lebanese just yesterday. It has consistently been the Resistance that has achieved the liberation of the prisoners from Zionist jails over decades. Their liberation must never be linked to Zionist interference in Lebanese sovereignty nor the demands of the occupation for long-missing bodies.
We call for the strongest, most organized action on all levels — particularly the popular, official and legal levels — to free the dozens of Lebanese prisoners, the Syrian prisoners, and the over 9,000 Palestinian prisoners from the occupiers’ dungeons, and to obtain full documentation, visitation and access to all imprisoned Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians until their liberation is achieved.
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As the United States attempts to shore up the failing “negotiations” between the Lebanese government and the Zionist occupation under the auspices of the “framework agreement,” Lebanese prisoners in Zionist jails are held captive in horrific circumstances, with even their names and identities unknown and hidden from their families, lawyers and even the International Committee of the Red Cross, and used as a bargaining chip by the occupation.
In the past two days — 3-4 September 2026 — five people illegally abducted from Lebanon by the Zionist occupation regime during their ongoing invasion and aggression against Lebanon were released by the occupation, allegedly after the U.S. urged them to in order to protect the “framework agreement” amid blatant, daily Zionist violations. At the same time, three more people were newly abducted by the Zionist occupation, including a 70-year-old member of his municipal council.
Notably, none of the five men released appear on the list of 36 prisoners distributed by the Lebanese Commission of Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners, nor on the list officially carried by the Lebanese government, indicating once again that the number of Lebanese held captive is much higher than publicly known, solely because the Zionist occupation refuses to acknowledge the names or identities — or even an accurate number — of the people abducted from Lebanon imprisoned in its jails.
Malik Ghazi
In the early afternoon on Friday, 3 September, Malik Kamal Ghazi was released to the International Committee of the Red Cross; his name had never appeared on any documented list of prisoners. Instead, on 13 October 2025 (notably, in the middle of the 15-month “ceasefire” routinely violated by the occupation, including through the abduction of civilians), his family reported the 20-year-old missing, noting that he had gone out for exercise in the mountains near ‘Ain ‘Ata, in Rashaya district. While there were reports that he might have been caught up in an attack by occupation forces invading Lebanon, his family also rushed to assure media that he had no disputes with anyone and that his psychological state was fine, urging anyone who saw him to call authorities. His family was tormented for over a year with no knowledge whatsoever of the state of their missing son.
Nearly one year later, Malik Ghazi’s family is welcoming him home after he was held captive by the occupation without his captors ever releasing his name or information to the public, the Lebanese government or army, or the International Committee of the Red Cross. How many other missing Lebanese are held in the dungeons of the occupation? Notably, even the Zionist occupation admits openly that he, and the other four being released, are “civilians” with “no military involvement”; therefore, the only possible reasons for holding them captive for nearly a year are to spread terror, to force the depopulation of targeted areas of Lebanon, and to use him as a bargaining chip.
The release of Malik Ghazi came just short hours after the abduction of Hatem Abdel-‘Al, Qassem Abdel-‘Al and Ghazal Abdel-‘Al, all from the village of Halta, in Hasbaya. Hatem Abdel-‘Al, 70, is the father of a martyr and a member of the Halta municipal council. All three were abducted from their homes by invading occupation forces which then took them inside occupied Palestine, where they remain.
After an initial announcement that four more Lebanese prisoners would be released via the ICRC on Thursday evening, 3 September, their release was postponed until Friday, 4 September. The names of the four men released are: Ali Shour, Hussein Ayash, Asaad al-Hasika and Wissam al-Samadi. At least al-Hasika is described as a Syrian civilian abducted from Lebanon; both Ali Hassan Shour and Wissam Ibrahim al-Samadi, who work as taxi drivers, were reported missing from Sour on 22 June. Hussein Abdullah Ayyash, from Harouf, was abducted approximately two months ago by the occupation in Kfar Tibnit.
Hussein Ayash
Once again, none of the five people who were released have appeared on any official lists, and therefore did not comprise any of the names officially requested by the Lebanese government. This indicates several significant issues: that the Zionist entity has no commitment, whatsoever, to any ceasefire with Lebanon and in fact is engaged in daily aggression against it; that the number of prisoners is much higher than known or acknowledged; and that the United States is not acting as a mediator, but rather as a co-aggressor with the Zionist entity.
The release of five people whose captivity was never acknowledged by the Zionist entity should, ostensibly, spark an immediate demand by any rational mediator for a full list of all those held captive; however, the occupation continues to suppress this information.
Further, by refusing to release any of the people listed and requested officially by the Lebanese government, the occupation continues to show that it has no interest whatsoever in “negotiating”, and that it will not concede to any demands made by Lebanon. Instead, it is only interested in seizing rights at the expense of the land and people of Lebanon. In all cases, the people the Zionists released are acknowledged as “civilians” with “no involvement,” and thus they are being held explicitly as bargaining chips and an act of aggression against the civilian population, as there is not even a claim of a military or intelligence interest in their continued captivity.
Both Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam thanked the United States for its role in freeing the five prisoners, while failing to mention the three captured nor the ongoing intelligence, military and financial integration and unlimited support provided to the genocidal Zionist aggression by the U.S. While Salam insisted that he would work to free the prisoners and end the occupation, disturbingly, the release of these five captive civilians is being described as a “concession” in “exchange” for the Lebanese government’s commitment to pursue the remains of Lebanese Jews who were killed during the Lebanese Civil War.
Of course, the remains of any Lebanese killed during the Civil War are not a matter of legitimate interest for the Zionist regime; this request is an attempt to tie the fate of the living, captive prisoners of Lebanon to 40-year-old remains that are only and solely a Lebanese internal issue to the Zionist regime, while staking a claim on Lebanese people and heritage, and claiming a right to a role in determining the history, present and future of Lebanon. It is clear that the real threat to Lebanese sovereignty — and the sovereignty of all of the peoples of the Arab and Iranian region, first and foremost the Palestinian people — is the Zionist entity and its U.S. imperialist backer.
