Jerusalem, 3 September, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed officials to step up efforts to locate and recover the bodies of Jewish community leaders in Lebanon who were kidnapped and murdered by Hezbollah in the mid-1980s.
Between seven and 12 prominent members of Beirut’s Jewish community were abducted and executed by Hezbollah, which operated under the alias “Organization of the Oppressed on Earth.”
Israel officially recognized the victims as Harugei Malchut (Martyrs of the Kingdom), a designation for Jews killed abroad because of their Jewish identity or ties to Israel.
Netanyahu has pursued the issue for decades, dating back to his time as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations.
In recent months, Israel and Lebanon have conducted extensive efforts to locate the bodies, including operations on the ground. Israel subsequently released five Lebanese citizens detained in southern Lebanon after determining they had no ties to terrorism.