Israeli soldiers to be released next week

Middle East: Israeli soldiers to be released next week, says media


Beirut, 16 June (AKI) - Military sources in Lebanon expect the Shia Islamic militant group Hezbollah to release abducted Israeli soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev in a prisoner exchange next week, according to Middle East media reports.

The Lebanese newspaper As-Safir said on Monday the deal would take place between 20 and 25 June.

Hezbollah guerillas kidnapped Goldwasser and Regev in a cross-border raid sparking the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict.

The IDF soldiers are believed to have been badly wounded during their abduction and no proof has been offered that they are alive by Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based militant organisation.

News of the prospective prisoner exchange was widely published in Israeli newspapers on Monday.

Negotiations have reportedly been expedited between Israel and Hezbollah, through German mediation.

According to media reports, the Saudi-owned paper al-Sharq al-Awsat has also reported that the family of jailed Lebanese terrorist Samir Kuntar has begun to prepare for his imminent return to Lebanon as part of the exchange.

Kuntar's return to Lebanon is considered one of Israel's commitments in the deal.

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