Bodies of 2 Israeli soldiers swapped for Hezbollah prisoners

KIRYAT MOTZKIN, Israel — With the transfer of prisoners and fighters' remains across the Israeli-Lebanese border Wednesday, the Shiite militia Hezbollah achieved a victory it had long coveted and Israel received the long-feared confirmation that two of its soldiers were dead.

The swap between enemies began with two black coffins passing into Israel at a seaside border crossing. Subsequent confirmation of the identities of soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev ended hopes that either of the two Israelis, whose capture by Hezbollah in July 2006 sparked a monthlong war, had survived their ordeal.

Hours later, the man Hezbollah had sought to free when it seized the Israelis — convicted murderer Samir Kuntar — returned to Lebanon to a jubilant hero's welcome.

The divergent reactions reflected the basic nature of the deal as a trade of the living for the dead. For Israel, the exchange represented a collision of ideals: the obligation to never leave a soldier behind on the battlefield and the determination to resist concessions earned through violence.

"We think of bringing our children home," said Moshe Sasson, 62, who was injured in Kuntar's attack 29 years ago and is now a neighbor of the Goldwassers. "But they think of other targets."

For Hezbollah, the swap was treated as vindication of the group's strategy of taking hostages to bargain for Kuntar's freedom, though the tactic also prompted a war that left more than 1,000 Lebanese and 159 Israelis dead.

"The most important element that brought us to where we are today is our steadfastness and our victory against Israel," Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah told thousands of the group's supporters gathered at an arena in southern Beirut.

Kuntar also spoke to the crowds, saying that he had returned "to Lebanon only because I want to go back to Palestine with my brothers in the resistance."

The ambivalence in Israel was displayed on television, radio and the streets, where arguments raged throughout the day over the merits of the U.N.-mediated deal. At the emotional center of the debate were the families.

Goldwasser's and Regev's relatives had waged a public campaign to bring them home. With opinion polls showing most of the public on the families' side, the Cabinet of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ultimately agreed. Relatives of Kuntar's victims, meanwhile, fought against any deal that involved letting him go free.

Relatives of Danny Haran said they felt betrayed by their government. Haran was killed along with his 4-year-old daughter during Kuntar's 1979 raid. Another daughter, who was 2, died when her mother accidentally suffocated her while trying to keep her quiet. A policeman was also killed in the attack by Kuntar, who was 16 at the time and who has said he was trying to take hostages to win the release of Palestinian prisoners.

"I feel that this is a victory for terror," said Ron Keren, a brother of Haran. Kuntar was supposed to spend the rest of his life in prison but instead walked free with four Lebanese veterans of the 2006 war late Wednesday afternoon.

Although Kuntar's attack predated Hezbollah's existence and he has not identified with the group, Hezbollah rolled out a red-carpet welcome for him and the four others, who are said to be the last Lebanese prisoners held by Israel. Appearing at an elaborate ceremony at the border town of Naqoura, Kuntar wore the same uniform as the released fighters, along with a cap with the Hezbollah logo.

"Lebanon is shedding tears of joy," said a banner that also featured a picture of Olmert with his hand on his forehead and the caption: "Humiliation guaranteed."

Along with members of Hezbollah, many Palestinians also gathered in Naqoura, hoping to determine if missing loved ones are among 199 bodies of Lebanese and Palestinian fighters that were returned on Wednesday by Israel. Killed during various conflicts over the past several decades, the bodies had been buried in Israel and were exhumed for the exchange.

Hamas, the armed Islamist movement that controls the Gaza Strip, also celebrated the exchange and said it had been encouraged by Hezbollah's success to "capture Zionist soldiers, in order to swap them with our sons in prison."

Hamas already has one Israeli soldier in custody, Gilad Shalit. He is believed to be alive, and Israel has been trying to negotiate his release.