Lebanese Parliament Passes General Amnesty Law Allowing South Lebanon Army Families to Return

The Lebanese Parliament approved a general amnesty law on Wednesday that pardons prisoners convicted of various offenses, mostly political in nature. The law specifically grants amnesty to families of South Lebanon Army (SLA) members who relocated to Israel following the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon 26 years ago, enabling them to return to Lebanon. Christian MP Rada Ayoub stated that her party succeeded in including Lebanese who fled to Israel out of fear of Hezbollah reprisals. She tweeted that Lebanese who did not join military or security organizations and found refuge in Israel after the 2000 South Lebanon liberation, including their families, will benefit from the amnesty and can finally return home.

However, the law excludes the SLA fighters themselves, who remain widely regarded as traitors in Lebanon despite the SLA’s establishment during the civil war with official approval. The "Former SLA Members Association" in Israel criticized the law, rejecting the categorization of SLA members alongside terrorists and criminals covered by the amnesty. They also condemned the exclusion of the SLA fighters, calling for a separate law with an official apology from Lebanon.

The primary purpose of the law is to pardon so-called "Islamist prisoners," mainly Sunni Lebanese who joined rebel groups during the Syrian civil war, aided them with weapons and funds, and conducted attacks against Hezbollah inside Lebanon. Many of these detainees have been held without trial for years in Roumieh prison alongside Syrian prisoners. MP Imad al-Hout from the Al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya party said 79 of 146 prisoners without blood on their hands will be released under the law. Druze MP Bilal Abdallah remarked that the law marks the end of a chapter where a segment of Lebanese society was persecuted by the regime, security agencies, and military courts.