Israeli held in Lebanon returned to Israel
Man with apparent psychological problems who was detained while wandering near southern Lebanese border village of Aitaroun returned to Israel with UNIFIL's help
An Israeli man with psychological problems arrested by the Lebanese army after crossing the border earlier this week was returned to Israel on Friday, the Israeli military said.
"An Israeli man, who crossed the international border ... from Israel to Lebanon on Tuesday ... was returned to Israel overnight," the Israeli military said in a statement.
It said his return was coordinated with the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.
On Thursday a security sources said the Lebanese army arrested the man, who is said to have psychological problems, after he crossed into Lebanon from Israel.
The man was wandering near the southern Lebanese border village of Aitaroun on Tuesday when he was arrested, but his nationality had not been immediately clear.
"The Lebanese army has an Israeli man in custody. He is of east European origin and it's clear that he has psychological problems," the source who asked not to be identified, told Reuters.
The Lebanese army had no comment on the incident.
The Israeli army had said on Tuesday its forces had identified a "suspicious person crossing the border from Israel into Lebanon. The forces conducted searches in the area and passed on the information to UNIFIL," referring to the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.
UNIFIL said it was aware that the Lebanese army had arrested the man but had no information on his nationality. "We're engaged with both parties (the Lebanese army and the Israel Defense Forces) to try and find a solution to this issue," said UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti.
The powerful Shiite military and political group Hezbollah fought Israel three years ago in a 34-day war after the group captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid. The two parties have not exchanged fire since the war ended.
