The IDF officially confirmed Sunday afternoon that Israel received from Hizbullah terrorists a coffin they claimed contained the remains of body parts belonging to soldiers who fell in battle during the Second Lebanon War.
A statement issued by the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said after the body remains will undergo initial and thorough examinations by the IDF and Israeli Police, the coffin will be transferred to the Forensic Medicine Institute in Abu Kabir for further inspection.
"The head of the Human Resources Branch in the General Staff has appointed a panel that will be responsible for directly contacting the bereaved families whose soldiers' body parts are suspected to be among the remains transferred. The panel will update the families on any developments."
Shortly after 12:00 noon, the International Red Cross Association confirmed that its officials had received a casket containing human remains from the terrorist group. The box was transferred by the agency to the IDF Chief Rabbinate. 
A panel will contact the bereaved families whose soldiers' body parts are suspected to be among the remains that were transferred... The panel will update the families on any developments.
Red Cross spokeswoman Yael Segev-Eytan said the announcement by Hizbullah that it was releasing the remains was as much of a surprise to the international agency as it was to the public. "We did not receive earlier information about it,' she said.
IDF sappers checked the casket to ensure there were no other "surprises."
An unnamed Israeli security official later confirmed that the remains had been sent to the Jewish State as a unilateral "gesture" agreed upon in talks with German mediator Gerhard Konrad.
Hizbullah is hoping to win the freedom of Lebanese murderer Samir Kuntar in its negotiations over a prisoner swap deal for the freedom of kidnapped IDF reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. The two were abducted by Hizbullah terrorists during the initial attack of the Second Lebanon War on July 12, 2006.
Kuntar was sentenced to four life terms in prison, a total of 542 years, for a 1979 raid on Nahariyah that resulted in the death of a police officer and three members of a local family.