The Fauda Season 5 cast brings Lior Raz, Yaakov Zada Daniel and Doron Ben-David back into the same damaged unit, then changes the balance with Mélanie Laurent as Anne Aubert, Hakim Djaziri as Saeed and Bian Anteer as Salem.
The names are only half the story. Anne is tied to the Marseille side of the plot, Saeed becomes the threat behind a planned attack, and Salem is the grieving Bedouin tracker whose private mission pulls Eli off-grid. Fauda Season 5 arrived in the same week covered in our September 7-13 OTT release guide, but this guide stays with the actors, character links and returning-team tension.
Fauda Season 5 cast at a glance
| Actor | Character | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Lior Raz | Doron Kavillio | Returning lead |
| Mélanie Laurent | Anne Aubert | New in Season 5 |
| Hakim Djaziri | Saïd Al-Khatibi, called Saeed by Netflix | New in Season 5 |
| Yaakov Zada Daniel | Eli | Returning |
| Doron Ben-David | Hertzel “Steve” Pinto | Returning |
| Bian Anteer | Salem | New in Season 5 |
| Itzik Cohen | Gabi “Captain Ayub” | Returning |
Mélanie Laurent as Anne Aubert
Mélanie Laurent plays Anne Aubert, the major French addition to the ensemble. Anne is an academic living in Marseille and is married to a Palestinian man. Her route crosses Doron’s after he reaches the French city.
Anne is not presented as a detached guest star. She meets the fighters in Marseille and accompanies them through part of their pursuit, making her a bridge between the local French setting and the returning Israeli team. Laurent previously worked with Lior Raz in 6 Underground, but here their connection is built around suspicion, divided loyalties and a mission neither side fully controls.
Hakim Djaziri as Saeed, or Saïd Al-Khatibi
Hakim Djaziri plays the season’s principal antagonist. Netflix lists the character as Saeed, while first-look captions and Israeli coverage use the fuller name Saïd Al-Khatibi. Both spellings refer to the same character.
Saeed operates from the network surrounding the Marseille plot and leads the planning of a large attack on Israel. That makes him more than the next target on Doron’s board. Eli and Salem begin with a private hunt for one man, but Saeed expands their blood-revenge mission into the season’s larger race against time.
Yaakov Zada Daniel as Eli
Yaakov Zada Daniel returns as Eli, but Season 5 pushes him from dependable team member to the person who sets the plot in motion. After losing his wife and children on October 7, Eli travels to Marseille with Salem to find the operative connected to their deaths.
The mission is personal rather than officially sanctioned. Eli’s partnership with Salem is built on shared grief across different communities, and their quiet religious observance together underlines the bond before the operation turns violent. Doron is sent to stop Eli, yet the old chain of command breaks down once he sees how far his friend has fallen.
Doron Ben-David as Hertzel “Steve” Pinto
Doron Ben-David is back as Hertzel “Steve” Pinto, the veteran operative usually known by his nickname. Steve enters the Marseille mission after Eli and Salem have already moved, reconnecting the off-grid pursuit with the team viewers know from earlier seasons.
His return is not a simple reunion. Steve and Doron begin the season carrying unresolved tension from October 7, and both men show the psychological damage left by that day. Their fractured friendship gives the action a second pressure point: the team must work together before its members have repaired what broke between them.
Bian Anteer as Salem
Bian Anteer, whose name also appears as Byan Anteer in credits databases, plays Salem, a Bedouin tracker from Rahat and one of Season 5’s most important new characters. Salem’s son was killed on October 7. He brings Eli information about an operative now living in Marseille, then joins him on the private mission to capture the man.
Salem gives the revenge story its most revealing partnership. He and Eli have lost family members to the same violence, but their backgrounds and faiths are different. The season uses that shared wound to make them partners without flattening either man into a symbol or a sidekick.
Lior Raz as Doron Kavillio
Lior Raz returns as Doron Kavillio, the series’ central undercover operative. Season 5 first finds Doron trying to process trauma and a gap in his memory from October 7. He is ordered to intercept Eli’s unsanctioned mission, but stopping his friends and abandoning them are two very different things for Doron.
That tension puts the familiar lead in a less familiar position. Doron still has the field instincts that drive Fauda, but this time the mission begins with broken relationships and a need to understand what happened, not a clean command from the system.
Itzik Cohen as Gabi “Captain Ayub”
Itzik Cohen reprises Gabi, better known as Captain Ayub. After his ordeal in Season 4, Gabi now works in the private security-technology world rather than operating from his old position. The intelligence he provides helps turn the Marseille pursuit into a broader operation.
Gabi remains the institutional counterweight to Doron’s instinct. Even outside his old office, he still understands the team, the intelligence picture and the cost of letting a private vendetta grow into something larger.
How the five key characters connect
The cleanest way to track the new ensemble is to start with Eli and Salem. Their shared loss launches the trip to Marseille. Steve and Doron follow, first to contain the operation and then to keep their old teammates alive. Anne gives the French side of that pursuit a civilian perspective, while Saeed is the larger threat who transforms a targeted revenge hunt into a race to prevent an attack.
That structure is why the new cast matters. Laurent, Djaziri and Anteer are not decorative international additions. Anne complicates access and trust, Saeed widens the scale, and Salem gives Eli a partner whose grief mirrors his own. The returning actors then carry the continuity, especially the damaged bonds among Doron, Eli and Steve.
The cast makes this a team story again
Fauda Season 5 still belongs to Lior Raz’s Doron, but the opening movement is driven by Eli and Salem, with Anne and Saeed shaping the Marseille conflict from opposite directions. The result is an ensemble built around grief, loyalty and revenge rather than a routine reunion.
For another damaged action team, read our Reacher Season 4 review. If you want a war drama that puts psychological strain ahead of swagger, our Operation Safed Sagar review is the stronger next stop.