Israel has requested the transfer of the remains of Jews buried in cemeteries in Lebanon to Israel as part of negotiations between Jerusalem and Beirut over a permanent agreement, according to a report on Monday.
The Israeli side has pointed to a large number of Jewish graves in Beirut and Sidon which belong to people who have relatives currently living in Israel, Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported.
Jews resided in Lebanon for centuries. Lebanon was the only Arab country whose Jewish population grew after the establishment of Israel in 1948, reaching around 10,000 people. But the community quickly dwindled after that, numbering in the low hundreds in the 1970s, and has since shrunk to just a few dozen at most today.
The issue was reportedly raised in the context of talks over Lebanese prisoners who were detained during the war in Lebanon and are being held in Israel, whose release Lebanon is demanding.
According to the report, Israel proposed transferring the remains from Lebanon as part of what it called a “civilian prisoner exchange deal,” which would include the transfer of the remains and the release of only some of the detained Lebanese, excluding Hezbollah operatives.
Get The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the terms
The Saudi Asharq News TV station reported last week that the talks in Rome included a “legal” track which dealt with Lebanese prisoners held by Israel — separate from detained Hezbollah operatives.
Members of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force who were captured by the military in southern Lebanon, in a handout photo issued on March 23, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)
The channel called the atmosphere on the issue “positive.”
At negotiations in Washington in June, Israel and Lebanon agreed to a framework deal that involves the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon’s south and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in test areas known as “pilot zones.”
Last week the sides met for the seventh round of Washington-mediated talks since Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war in March with rocket fire at Israel in support of its backer Iran.
Two days after the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, Hezbollah fired at Israel in solidarity with Tehran. Israeli forces responded with aerial bombardments and a ground assault, seizing a strip of land extending about 10 km (6 miles) deep into southern Lebanon. More than a million Lebanese civilians were forced to flee their homes. Israel has been destroying significant terror infrastructure in the captured areas.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You’re a dedicated reader
That’s why we started the Times of Israel – to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel