Missing Mossad agent's story brought to light: Will Netanyahu address Israeli disappearances in Lebanon during US-Lebanon talks?

Report by Amal Shehadeh, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi

Just hours before a U.S. delegation representing the Trump administration arrives in Beirut to discuss the ceasefire agreement implementation and the Hezbollah prisoners held in Israel, a new issue has emerged regarding missing Israeli agents in Lebanon.  

The family of Salim Murad Jamous, a Mossad operative in Syria and Lebanon, has sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urging him to use ongoing negotiations with Lebanese officials to uncover his fate.  

Jamous, registered within Mossad as the head of the Jewish community in Lebanon, was reportedly involved in a covert network that facilitated the smuggling of Jews from Syria to Lebanon and onward to Israel. 

According to his family, he lived in a luxurious home in Beirut's Wadi Abu Jamil neighborhood before he was abducted on August 15, 1984, to be used in a prisoner exchange deal with Lebanese detainees in Khiam prison.  

Jamous' case is not the only one under scrutiny. Activists and families have raised concerns about other individuals who went missing in Lebanon, with Israeli sources indicating that at least ten people were abducted. 

However, the fate of only one has been determined.  

Jamous' family revealed that, for years, they have reached out to international organizations and political figures to uncover his whereabouts, but their efforts have been met with silence. They also accused the Israeli political establishment of neglecting him and others who remain unaccounted for.  

With regional discussions increasingly focused on peace agreements and diplomatic negotiations, the timing of this revelation raises questions. 

Why is Jamous' story and that of the other missing Israelis being brought to light now? Will Netanyahu be willing to put this issue on the table alongside the Hezbollah prisoner negotiations involving Lebanon and the United States?