Naim Berjawi and Rania Abushamala
05 September 2026•Update: 05 September 2026
After months of waiting and fearing that his son might never return, Abdullah Ayyash felt life restored to him when Hussein arrived Friday at the family home in the southern Lebanese town of Harouf following his release by Israel.
“I feel like any father who gets his son back after losing him. Life has returned to me,” Ayyash told Anadolu.
He said he lost hope of seeing his son again after receiving no news about him following his detention by Israel.
Israeli forces detained Hussein Ayyash, a resident of Harouf in the Nabatieh district, on June 27, months after a ceasefire agreement had taken effect.
His father said Hussein told him after his release that he had been subjected to torture, humiliation and degrading treatment during interrogations.
Amid the joy of his return and the effects left by months in detention, Abdullah Ayyash said his son needed rest and psychological recovery.
“My son now needs psychological rest. All I tell him is: Continue with your life. This is life,” he said.
Israel released Ayyash, alongside LebaneseAli Shour and Syrian nationals Asaad Hseiki and Wissam Samawi, handing them over Friday to the International Committee of the Red Cross at the Ras Naqoura border crossing.
After completing procedures and undergoing medical examinations, Ayyash returned to his family home in Harouf. Shour went to his home in the southern city of Tyre.
Israel released Lebanese detainee Malek Kamal Razi on Thursday, and handed him to the Lebanese army through the Red Cross at the Naqoura crossing after holding him for nearly 11 months. The other four were released the following day.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said an investigation had found that the five “do not belong to any terrorist organization, did not engage in terrorism, and there is no justification for their continued detention.”
It amounted to an Israeli acknowledgment that the five had been held without grounds for months — and in some cases for nearly a year — before Tel Aviv said no links to any organization or involvement in armed activity had been established.
The five cases are part of a broader pattern documented by Lebanese rights groups.
Lebanon’s National Human Rights Commission documented cases of Lebanese citizens being detained or missing while carrying out civilian activities, in a legal document issued in December 2025.
Before the release of the three Lebanese nationals on Thursday and Friday, Lebanese authorities said Israel was holding 36 abductees, while Tel Aviv acknowledged detaining 33, according to Nabih Awada, an academic specializing in Israeli affairs.
Awada previously told Anadolu that 21 of the abductees were detained after the ceasefire took effect Nov. 27, 2024, as they attempted to return to their villages.
Lebanon considers civilians detained by Israel inside Lebanese territory to have been abducted rather than taken as prisoners of war as part of an exchange, particularly because Lebanon holds no Israelis in return.
Israel’s offensive on Lebanon has continued since March 2, killing 4,354 people and injuring 12,325, while displacing more than 1 million, according to Lebanese authorities.