Israeli Prime Minister’s office announced today that Israeli citizen Saleh Abu-Husseinwho was held in Lebanon for a year, returned to Israel after negotiations with the help of the Red Cross.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the return of the citizen. “This is a positive step and a sign of things to come,” he wrote on the X platform.

The Prime Minister’s office did not reveal details about the detention conditions of the Arab citizen of Israel Abu-Hussein. But he announced that the Lebanese authorities handed over the man to the border crossing Ross Hanikra in northwestern Israel. The man was initially questioned, underwent medical examination and transferred to a clinic. Later, he will reunite with his family.

It is not yet known how this man ended up in the neighboring country. “The circumstances of the incident are being investigated by the security forces,” Netanyahu’s office said, adding that negotiations, with the support of the Red Cross, to release the man, were conducted in recent months. He also released a photo of the man while talking on a cell phone after his return. According to reports, she has been holding in Lebanon since July 2024.

The Israeli news website Ynet reported that the relatives of the man did not know that he was in Lebanon. “We don’t know how he got there, but we’re very happy to have returned and he is alive,” his family said. According to the report, the Israeli government did not inform them of the negotiations on the return of their relative. “It was a big surprise for us,” they said.

Following the start of the war in Gaza after Hamas’s massacre in October 2023, the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon and the Israeli army involved in an exchange of multiple bombings that evolved into one war between them. A truce that came into force last November put an end to hostilities.