Lebanon Grants Amnesty to Families of South Lebanon Army Members Who Moved to Israel—Not the Fighters

Lebanon’s parliament passed a “general amnesty” law today (Wednesday), granting amnesty to the families of South Lebanon Army members who moved to Israel following the IDF’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon 26 years ago. This was reported by Kan 11. The law now allows those families to return to their homeland.

The bill addressed a general amnesty for prisoners convicted of a range of offenses, most of them political in nature. Above all, the law was intended to grant amnesty to prisoners referred to in Lebanon as “Islamist prisoners.” These are Lebanese members of the Sunni community who, during the Syrian civil war, joined rebel organizations fighting the Assad regime, aided them by smuggling weapons and money, and even carried out attacks against Hezbollah inside Lebanon.

Christian member of parliament Rada Ayoub worked during the law’s deliberations to include Lebanese people who fled to Israel out of fear of retaliation by Hezbollah and its supporters. In a post on X, Ayoub wrote that “our Lebanese people who did not join a military or security organization, and found refuge in Israel after the liberation of southern Lebanon in 2000, including their families, will benefit from a general amnesty that will finally open their path back to their homeland.”

Her remarks indicate that the law grants amnesty only to the family members of South Lebanon Army fighters, and not to the fighters themselves. In Lebanon, they are viewed as “traitors,” even though the South Lebanon Army was established in the 1970s at the initiative of Lebanese authorities during the civil war.

The “Former South Lebanon Army Members Association,” which operates in Israel, criticized the law, saying: “We reject the ‘amnesty’ law passed by the Lebanese parliament, first because we are not criminals, and this law places us in the same category as terrorists from the ISIS terrorist organization and criminals included in this law.”

“Second, the law that was passed applies only to the women and children who moved to Israel when the IDF withdrew from southern Lebanon in May 2000, and does not include our heroic fathers who fought for the homeland, and who, if they return, will be arrested and put on trial. Our parents deserve a specific law that includes an official apology from the Lebanese state—not a law that equates them with ISIS terrorists.”