As Lebanon and Israel continue their seventh round of negotiations in Rome, Israel has broken decades of silence over the fate of 11 Lebanese Jews abducted in Beirut during the 1980s, pressing for the issue to be included among the files under discussion alongside border disputes, ceasefire implementation, and detainee exchanges.

Israeli officials are seeking information on the fate of the victims, the location of their remains, and their burial sites. The demand is being raised alongside Lebanese requests for the release of Lebanese detainees held by Israel, the return of bodies retained by the Israeli military, and the completion of Israel's withdrawal from Lebanese territory.

The 11 Lebanese Jews were abducted and killed between 1984 and 1986 by a group calling itself the Organization of the Oppressed on Earth, widely regarded as the precursor to what later became Hezbollah.

The victims included then-head of Lebanon's Jewish community Isaac Sasson, former community secretary-general Salim Murad Jammous, physician Dr. Elie Hallak, four members of the same family, and other members of the Hallak, Srour, Trabb, and Ben Etsi families. Reports indicate that most of them were elderly members of Lebanon's shrinking Jewish community who had chosen to remain in the country despite the civil war.

Observers say reopening the case is not simply a humanitarian initiative. Instead, it reflects Israel's attempt to widen the scope of negotiations beyond Israeli withdrawals from border positions and implementation of the ceasefire to include files connected to Hezbollah's history, including missing persons, human remains, tunnels, and the security infrastructure the group has built since the 1980s.

The issue is not entirely new. Article 13 of the Tripartite Framework Agreement, signed in Washington on June 26, commits the parties to working toward locating and returning human remains and securing the release of detainees.

Middle East historian and university professor Dr. Marc Abu Abdallah described the kidnappings as an exceptional episode in the history of regional conflicts.

Speaking to Al Markazia, he said Hezbollah's predecessor had attempted something virtually unprecedented by seeking to exchange civilians who held the same nationality as their captors for prisoners held by an enemy army.

At the time, Hezbollah demanded the release of its members imprisoned at the Khiam detention center after they had been captured by Israeli forces.

Abu Abdallah said each victim had a different story, "but the one thing they all shared was that they were all killed."

Most of the victims were abducted from their homes in Beirut neighborhoods including Hamra, Zokak el-Blat, and Minet el-Hosn. One was kidnapped while returning from Dubai along Beirut's airport road.

According to Abu Abdallah, Israel deliberately avoided publicly pressing the issue for years out of concern that doing so might endanger the remaining members of Lebanon's Jewish community. Israel also believed that those who remained in Lebanon continued to enjoy legal protections and were not facing immediate danger.

There is no precise official count of Lebanon's Jewish population. The last formal figure dates back to records compiled during the French Mandate, when roughly 6,000 Jews lived in Lebanon, whose total population at the time stood at about 1.5 million.

Today, Abu Abdallah estimates that approximately 200 Lebanese Jews still live in the country, while another 1,000 regularly travel between Lebanon and abroad.

In March 2024, Lebanon's Jewish community elected a new six-member communal council to oversee its affairs.

The council manages eight synagogues, although all were destroyed during the civil war except one that has since been restored in downtown Beirut. Jewish cemeteries remain intact, including the largest cemetery in Beirut's Sodeco district.

Abu Abdallah believes several developments explain why the issue has resurfaced.

First, he said, the shifting balance of power and the weakening of Hezbollah's military capabilities have removed much of the fear that once surrounded public discussion of Lebanon's Jewish community.

Second, he argued, the Lebanese state has never launched its own initiative to investigate the fate of the 11 Lebanese Jews abducted during the 1980s.

The most important factor, however, is ideological.

Israel, he said, has a longstanding policy of recovering the remains of its citizens and military personnel whenever possible.

As an example, he pointed to the Israeli commando operation carried out several months ago in the eastern Lebanese town of Nabi Chit after intelligence suggested that the remains of missing Israeli Air Force navigator Ron Arad might be located there.

Abu Abdallah argued that Lebanon should reclaim responsibility for the issue before Israel turns it into a permanent negotiating tool.

He called on the Lebanese government to reopen the case by appointing Justice Minister Adel Nassar as judicial investigator into the abduction and killing of the Lebanese Jews during the 1980s, thereby placing the investigation under Lebanese judicial authority rather than allowing Israel to dominate the file.

He also urged the Interior Ministry to amend its official records by referring to the community simply as the Jewish community, rather than using the terms "Israeli" or "Mosaic"—the latter derived from the Prophet Moses.