Lebanon's slain Jews, members of a dwindled community
In recent talks with Lebanon, Israel demanded information on the remains of Lebanese Jews kidnapped and assassinated during the country's civil war from 1975 to 1990 by groups linked to Iran-backed Hezbollah.
For its part, Israel in the past two days released five civilians captured in southern Lebanon, where it is at war with Hezbollah.
AFP takes a look at the Jewish community's importance in Lebanon and the kidnapping of some of its members.
- Migration -
Jews have had a long-established presence in Lebanon and have played an important role in the country's economy, despite a lack of political representation.
Their numbers shrank from some 22,000 before the 15-year civil war to around 30 today.
The community's president Isaac Arazi died in 2023 aged 80.
Judaism is one of Lebanon's 18 recognized sects, though Jews did not enjoy political representation.
"Lebanon was the only Arab country where the number of Jews increased after the Nakba of Palestinians in 1948," Nada Abdelsamad, author of a book on the community, told AFP, referring to the mass displacement of Palestinians during Israel's creation.
"Jewish immigration from Arab countries to Lebanon increased, especially from Syria, and also from Iraq."
Israel's creation caused a wave of hostility towards Jews in the Arab world.
Members of the sect in Lebanon left, "a minority of them to Israel while the majority went to other countries, including Europe and the Americas, especially Latin America," Abdelsamad said.
Abdelsamad also mentioned Shula Cohen, an Israeli spy who played a major role in the emigration of Jews from Lebanon and Syria.
Arrested in 1961 for espionage, she was released six years later as part of a prisoner exchange with Israel.
- Looted synagogue -
During the Lebanese civil war, fighting erupted in central Beirut, where the Jewish quarter known as Wadi Abu Jmil is located.
The main synagogue, Maghen Abraham, was looted during the conflict but restored afterwards.
Abdelsamad, who wrote "When the Jewish Balconies Went Dark in Wadi Abou Jamil", said Jews coexisted with other religious communities in this neighborhood.
Displaced by fighting, some sheltered in Muslim-majority western Beirut.
But Lebanese Jews left in droves, especially after the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
In the mid-1980s, groups linked to Hezbollah were kidnapping foreign nationals as well as Christian and Jewish Lebanese in west Beirut, which was under the chaotic rule of armed militias.
Eleven Jews were abducted, including Yitzhak Sasson, president of the Supreme Council of the Jewish Community in Lebanon, and Elie Hallak, its vice-president.
Their kidnappers, known as the Oppressed on Earth, demanded the release of Lebanese held by Israel.
They announced the execution of most of their hostages, but only four bodies were ever recovered.
- 'Extensive efforts' -
Over the last two days, Israel returned five people to Lebanon it had seized amid its recent wars with Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the decision followed "extensive efforts" by Israel and Lebanon to locate and return the bodies of leaders of Lebanon's Jewish community abducted and killed in the 1980s during the country's 15-year civil war.
During the latest round of Lebanon-Israel talks in Rome last month, a source close to the negotiations said Israel gave Beirut a list of Jewish individuals to demand the return of their remains.
The Israeli army and government have for years worked to repatriate the bodies of soldiers killed in operations abroad.
In August the Israeli military said it recovered the remains of a soldier killed in eastern Lebanon in 1982.
According to Israeli media reports, the aim of the requests about Lebanese Jews is to identify the remains and bury them in Israel, allowing relatives and descendants the chance to visit their graves.
Documents, including maps and photographs of cemeteries, have even been handed over to Lebanese authorities, according to Israeli media.
The reports have emphasized the role of the United States, the sponsors of the talks, in fostering cooperation between the two sides on the issue.
Source: Agence France Presse
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