Bodies of Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser returned to Israel

The bodies of reserve IDF soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, whose abductions by Hezbollah sparked the Second Lebanon War of 2006, were returned to Israel yesterday, and will be buried with full military honours today. The return of the bodies of the two concludes a long negotiation between Israel and Hezbollah, mediated by Germany. In exchange for the return of the bodies, Israel freed notorious murderer Samir Kuntar, who took part in a terror attack in 1979, and four Hezbollah men captured in the 2006 war. Israel also returned the bodies of 199 Lebanese killed infiltrating into Israel. Kuntar and the other Lebanese prisoners were taken from the border crossing to a massive celebration organised by Hezbollah in Beirut. Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah made a brief public appearance to welcome the men.

Israeli officials stressed that the return of the soldiers is a sign of Israel's moral obligation to its servicemen. Defence Minister Ehud Barak said that "As a soldier, an officer and as defence minister, I announce that the IDF will always work to bring the boys home. Alive, wounded or dead. That is what the covenant between the IDF and its fighters and Israeli society means."

The prisoner exchange is being seen by Israeli analysts as the final act of the Second Lebanon War, though few consider it as the end of conflict between Hezbollah and Israel. The Lebanese organisation is expected to find new excuses to continue its war against Israel. The destruction of Israel is a core element in Hezbollah's ideology. More practically, the fight against Israel is the only way that the group can justify its maintaining of an independent, Iran-supplied military infrastructure.  Regional news outlets have reported that the movement has now deployed anti-aircraft missiles, in an attempt to disrupt Israeli flights over Lebanon. Hezbollah's long-standing demand that Israel cede the Shebaa Farms area to Lebanon is likely also to be used as a pretext for the continuation of violence against Israel.

Back to top Previous article Next article