A Lebanese newspaper, Al Jadeed, reported Wednesday that the next round of contacts between Israel and Lebanon may include talks about exchanging Hezbollah prisoners held in Israel for the remains of navigator Ron Arad, who has been missing for nearly 40 years. The report comes amid continuing tension on the northern border and ongoing diplomatic contacts between the sides.
The article noted that Israeli special forces carried out an operation in Lebanon on Saturday night aimed at finding evidence related to Arad, but the mission did not produce the hoped-for results. Arad bailed out of a fighter jet that crashed in Lebanon in October 1986 and disappeared soon afterward. Israeli security assessments have long suggested he may have been transferred to Iran, but that has never been publicly confirmed. His last known sighting was apparently in Lebanon.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after Shabbat that “our heroic fighters went out last night on a special operation to locate and return navigator Ron Arad, who fell captive in Lebanon about 40 years ago. For many years we have been engaged in this mission continuously.”
The report also followed an unusual public appeal by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, who told CNN this week that Lebanon prefers negotiations over military confrontation. “A military solution will never provide security for the residents of northern Israel,” he said, adding, “We are ready, we want, we are committed. What about you? If so, let’s sit and talk.” Aoun said he would not meet Netanyahu before a deal to end the fighting is reached, and described the goal as a non-aggression agreement rather than a full peace treaty. Despite criticism from Hezbollah and its supporters, he continues to back talks with Israel.
Meanwhile, fighting and military activity continue in southern Lebanon. The IDF said it identified an armed militant cell near its forces in the security zone in the Ali al-Taher ridge and struck it shortly after. Hezbollah accused Israel of opening machine-gun fire at civilians clearing roads and recovering bodies from the rubble, calling it a blatant violation of the ceasefire. Israeli forces are also operating against Hezbollah infrastructure in the same area, where the group allegedly built a fortified underground headquarters over 20 years, believed to store Iranian-made ballistic missiles.
