Return of Ron Arad remains could feature in Israel-Lebanon DC negotiations - report

Arad was an Israeli pilot seized by the Lebanese Shi'ite group Amal in 1986, after which Israel lost all trace of him by 1988.

Talks between the US, Lebanon, and Israel in Washington DC earlier this year.

(photo credit: AMICHAI STEIN)

ByTOBIAS HOLCMAN, AMICHAI STEIN, JAMES GENN

JUNE 23, 2026 15:53

Updated: JUNE 23, 2026 17:08

Israeli and Lebanese negotiators are weighing the return of missing Israeli Air Force navigator Ron Arad's remains in return for Lebanese prisoners, according to Lebanese media reports released on Tuesday.

The reports on Arad's possible return surface as Israel and Lebanon begin the fifth round of US-based talks focused on establishing pilot zones for Israeli troop pullbacks so the Lebanese army can demonstrate its capacity to neutralize Hezbollah.

Israeli officials informed The Jerusalem Post that they had no knowledge of this development and possessed no fresh details regarding Ron Arad, though they would welcome any new information from Lebanese sources.

Who was IAF navigator Ron Arad?

Arad was declared missing in action on October 16, 1986, after his aircraft malfunctioned and crashed during a mission against the Palestine Liberation Organization near Sidon in southern Lebanon. He has been presumed dead for several years.

He ejected prior to the crash and was detained by the Amal Movement, a Shia faction in Lebanon. Former Amal leader Nabih Berri, currently parliament speaker, indicated that his group held Arad as leverage to secure the release of Lebanese prisoners detained by Israel since the 1982 Lebanon War and the ensuing occupation of southern Lebanon.

Arad's family obtained letters and photographs showing signs of life during 1987.

He was held personally by Amal's security chief, Mustafa Dirani, as noted on the Israeli government's website.

Yet in 1988, Dirani broke from Amal due to ideological differences and established a new Shia organization, the Israeli government stated.

This new group kept Arad briefly before he is thought to have been transferred to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in exchange for substantial sums, the government added.

Dirani was seized by Israel in 1994 and revealed under questioning that Arad had been passed to Hezbollah.

UN envoy Gerald Konrad informed Israel that Hezbollah officials told him Arad died in 1988 during a failed escape attempt.

Subsequently, Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah declared in 2006 that Arad was deceased.

Arad was 28 years old at the time of the crash.

He held the rank of Captain then and has since been promoted to Lt.-Col.

The fighter jet's pilot, Yishai Aviram, was also ejected and was rescued by the IDF after the incident.