Hezbollah hands over soldiers' remains

Militant group Hezbollah has handed over the bodies of two Israeli soldiers as part of a prisoner swap deal.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..It is 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 were taken from an Israeli prison before dawn and driven towards the Rosh Hanikra border crossing.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 prisoners war will not pass into Lebanon until Israeli forensic experts positively identify the soldiers as Goldwasser and Regev.The deal seals a painful chapter from Israel's inconclusive war against Hezbollah, launched with the declared aim of returning the soldiers' remains.A DNA analysis is expected to take around three hours, but if their remains cannot be identified on the spot, they will be flown to Jerusalem for DNA testing before the swap is completed, the officials said.The Israeli soldiers are believed to be dead, although there has been no confirmation.In the exchange, to be carried out by the Red Cross at the seafront border crossing of Rosh Hanikra, Israel will also turn over the bodies of 199 Lebanese and Palestinian fighters killed in clashes over the years.

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ITN | July 16, 2008

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