October 21, 2026
The file of the former Palestinian ambassador to Lebanon, Ashraf Dabour, entered a new phase following the issuance of a decision requiring his release and his departure from Lebanese territory heading to Bulgaria, where her daughter resides, with security forces escorting him to Rafik Hariri International Airport. This decision comes to turn the page on judicial disputes that lasted for months and witnessed several milestones.
The roots of the case go back to April 29, 2026, when Lebanese Public Security personnel arrested Dabour at Beirut International Airport coming from Turkey, based on a red notice and a persecution warrant issued by the Palestinian authorities through the channels of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol). After being detained for about four hours and initially interrogated, he was released on the same day after submitting his legal defenses.
However, the file witnessed a shift on August 3, 2026, when Dabour was subjected to an interrogation that lasted for more than four hours before the Cassation Public Prosecution. In light of the documents submitted by the Palestinian authorities as part of his extradition request, the cassation public prosecutor, Judge Ahmed Rami Al-Hajj, issued a decision to arrest him.
The Palestinian prosecutions focused on financial and administrative suspicions dating back to the period when he assumed his diplomatic duties at the Palestinian Embassy in Beirut. On the other hand, these accusations faced continuous defenses and objections from his legal defense team, in a judicial process that did not include any final conviction against him.
