Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas handed over the bodies of two Israeli soldiers and trucks carrying the remains of some 199 Lebanese and Palestinian fighters began crossing into Lebanon on Wednesday - setting in motion a dramatic prisoner swap between the bitter enemies.
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Family and friends outside the homes of the two captured Israeli soldiers burst into tears early Wednesday when TV images showed two black coffins believed to contain their remains. Though officials had suspected Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were dead, the sight of the coffins was the first concrete sign of the young men's fate.
The swap - mediated by a U.N.-appointed German official who shuttled between the sides for 18 months _ is likely to be a significant boost for Hezbollah at a time when the guerrillas are regaining their footing following the blows they suffered in a 2006 war against Israel. It also closes a painful chapter for Israel, which launched the war in response to the soldiers' capture in a cross-border raid.
Israeli forensic experts worked to identify the Israelis' bodies, a process that could take several hours, said Israeli army spokeswoman Avital Leibovich. Once the Israelis' bodies are positively identified, Israel will turn over five Lebanese prisoners to Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrilla group - including a militant convicted in an attack perceived here as particularly monstrous.
Lebanon's Al-Manar TV quoted senior Hezbollah official Wafik Safa at the border as saying the bodies of the two Israelis were in a "mutilated" shape from injuries they suffered during the 2006 cross-border raid. Israel's Channel 10 TV cited military forensic officials as saying the identification process could take a while because the bodies were in poor condition and required DNA testing.
The soldiers' Hezbollah captors had withheld any information about them since they were taken.
An aunt of Regev's sank to the ground when she saw the coffins appear on a small TV hooked up outside the soldier's father's house. Some 50 friends, neighbors and family who had gathered there sobbed, rocked back and forth in prayer, lit candles or tugged at their hair. "Nasrallah, you will pay," several of the mourners vowed, referring to Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah.
The family's next door neighbor, Simona Adda, 68, said her children had grown up with Regev. "It's the saddest day for Israel. They kept us waiting until the last second to learn the fate of our sons," she said, then burst out crying. Other people in the crowd criticized Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, saying the soldiers died for nothing, and vowed revenge against Nasrallah.
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