Israel to release Kuntar and four Lebanese fighters in exchange for its two soldiers

Monday July 14, 2008 03:41

by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Israel stated on Sunday that it will release Sameer Kuntar and four other Lebanese detainees on Wednesday in exchange for the release of its two soldiers who were captured by Hezbollah in 2006.

Sameer Kuntar

On Sunday afternoon, the Israeli Prison Services (IPS) released the names of the detainees who will be released as part of the deal, besides Kuntar, the detainees who would be freed are, Khaled Zidan, Maher Kurani, Hussein Suleiman and Mohammad Srur. The four detainees were captured by Israel in 2006.

Sameer Kuntar was captured by Israel in 1979; Israel believes he is involved in the killing of four Israelis in an attack carried out in Nahariya in 1979.

The two Israeli soldiers who were captured by Hezbollah fighters in 2006 are identified as Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser.

Hezbollah did not say whether the two soldiers are alive or dead although Israel said they are presumed dead.

As part of the deal, Israel is to release the bodies of 200 Arab and Palestinian fighters killed in different battles across the border with Lebanon. Israel says that the 200 were killed in different attacks after infiltrating northern Israel.

The swap deal was approved by the Israeli government on June 29.

The release of the names of the Lebanese detainees at this stage comes in order to enable the submission of appeals against their release within the coming 48 hours, Israeli sources reported.

The sources added that the Israeli government will hold a session on Tuesday in order to approve the swap deal which is expected to be implemented this coming Thursday.

It is worth mentioning that Israel vowed to the United Nations’ Secretary General to release Palestinian detainees without specifying a certain number.