Israel returned the bodies of two Hizbullah terrorists to Lebanon this afternoon. The corpses are those of terrorists killed in the 1980's in clashes with IDF forces in Lebanon - clashes in which no Israelis were killed.
Today's move is described as a "confidence-building gesture" towards Hizbullah, in anticipation of a successful conclusion to ongoing negotiations. Israel is hoping to obtain information - or more - on its missing-in-action soldiers and civilians in Lebanon. These include Elchanan Tenenbaum, abducted by Hizbullah almost three years ago in Abu Dhabi; the bodies of three soldiers abducted by Hizbullah terrorists on the Israeli-Lebanon border around the same time; and Zechariah Baumel, Yehuda Katz, Tzvi Feldman, and Ron Arad, who have not been seen since their apparent capture in Lebanon in the early 1980's.
Today's move is described as a "confidence-building gesture" towards Hizbullah, in anticipation of a successful conclusion to ongoing negotiations. Israel is hoping to obtain information - or more - on its missing-in-action soldiers and civilians in Lebanon. These include Elchanan Tenenbaum, abducted by Hizbullah almost three years ago in Abu Dhabi; the bodies of three soldiers abducted by Hizbullah terrorists on the Israeli-Lebanon border around the same time; and Zechariah Baumel, Yehuda Katz, Tzvi Feldman, and Ron Arad, who have not been seen since their apparent capture in Lebanon in the early 1980's.