Hezbollah return bodies to Israel

Jul 16 - Hezbollah return two coffins to Israel saying that they contain the bodies of two Israeli soldiers captured two years ago.

The return of the bodies is part of an exchange deal between Hezbollah and Israel.

Lebanon is declaring the day of the exchange as a public holiday, but Israel mourned the dead soldiers, whose fate had been unknown, describing the event as a painful necessity.

The coffins were given to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) at the Lebanon-Israel border and then taken into Israel.

In return for the bodies of the two army reservists, Israel will release five Lebanese prisoners.

The deal is being mediated by a U.N intelligence officer, with the ICRC carrying out DNA tests on the bodies to confirm their identities.

The soldiers' capture in a cross-border raid in 2006 sparked a 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah.