Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Israeli reporters Thursday that a deal with Hizbullah regarding the jihadist group's ransom demands was around the corner. The proposed deal with Hizbullah for the release of two kidnapped IDF soldiers will be presented to the security cabinet on Sunday for approval. On Friday, Barak will visit the families of the missing men.

"The contacts that have been taking place regarding abducted soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev are ripening towards decisions in the coming days and weeks," Barak said.

Regev and Goldwasser were abducted by Hizbullah on July 12, 2006, in a cross-border raid from Lebanon. Eight soldiers were killed in the attack, which sparked the Second Lebanon War between the IDF and Hizbullah forces in Southern Lebanon. Since the end of the war, German diplomats have acted as go-betweens for negotiations between Israel and Hizbullah over the latter's ransom demands.

For more than a week, various Arab media outlets have been reporting that a deal between Israel and Hizbullah was almost completed. There have also been unofficial reports that Lebanese Druze terrorist Samir Kuntar, imprisoned in Israel since his capture during a brutal 1979 terrorist attack in Nahariya, will be among those freed in exchange for Goldwasser and Regev. The head of Hizbullah, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, has previously made a point of mentioning Kuntar's release as a condition for any deal with Israel, while Kuntar has pledged to the jihadist leader that he would continue to fight against Israel.

Ahead of Barak's statements on Thursday regarding the developing agreement with Hizbullah, government officials this week said that they were considering declaring Goldwasser and Regev as having been killed in the line of duty. Lebanese and German media are already referring to speculations over Israeli concessions in exchange for "the bodies" of the kidnapped soldiers.

The families of the missing soldiers were briefed earlier this month that a deal was in the offing. On Friday, Defense Minister Barak is planning to meet with the Goldwasser and Regev families, as well as with the family of kidnapped IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit, held by the Hamas jihadist regime in Gaza since 2006.  Barak is expected to discuss the proposed deal with Hizbullah and the understandings recently reached with Hamas.