Hezbollah hands over soldiers' remains

Updated 23.10 Wed Jul 16 2008
Keywords: samir qantar, Eldad Regev, Ehud Goldwasser, hezbollah, israel

Militant group Hezbollah has handed over the bodies of two Israeli soldiers as part of a prisoner swap deal.

Two black coffins containing the remains of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were delivered to the International Committee of the Red Cross at an Israel/Lebanon border crossing.

The deal sees Israel free five prisoners, in exchange for what's believed to be the remains of two of their own soldiers - Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev - whose capture sparked an invasion of Lebanon two years ago and a bitter two-month war

Israeli officials have used to DNA technology to confirm the identity of the remains.

It was the first confirmation that the men - whose capture two years ago sparked an invasion of Lebanon two years ago and a bitter two-month war - had been killed.

The deal sees Israel free five prisoners including Samir Qantar, a militant convicted in one of the most brutal attacks in Israel's history.

The five are now back in Lebanon having been taken from an Israeli prison before dawn and driven to the seafront border crossing of Rosh Hanikra.

Qantar is expected to receive a hero's welcome upon his return to a homeland he left 29 years ago to set out on his deadly mission.

The deal seals a painful chapter from Israel's inconclusive war against Hezbollah, launched with the declared aim of returning the soldiers' remains.

In the exchange, carried out by the Red Cross, Israel is also turning over the bodies of 199 Lebanese and Palestinian fighters killed in clashes over the years.

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