After the Lebanese resistance group captured two Israeli soldiers at the start of the July 2006 Israeli war on Lebanon, Hizballah said they would release the soldiers only as part of a deal with Israel who would in turn release the remaining Lebanese prisoners. Among the five remaining prisoners is Samir Kuntar, a Lebanese man who went by boat to Israel in 1979 in an attempt to take Israeli soldiers hostage. Kuntar's mission failed, and in the end he would be convicted of killing an Israeli...
more »After the Lebanese resistance group captured two Israeli soldiers at the start of the July 2006 Israeli war on Lebanon, Hizballah said they would release the soldiers only as part of a deal with Israel who would in turn release the remaining Lebanese prisoners. Among the five remaining prisoners is Samir Kuntar, a Lebanese man who went by boat to Israel in 1979 in an attempt to take Israeli soldiers hostage. Kuntar's mission failed, and in the end he would be convicted of killing an Israeli man and his four-year-old daughter. Through German mediation, Israel and Hizballah negotiated the prisoner trade. Israel, unsure if their two soldiers were alive or dead, mourned after received two black coffins on the morning of July 17 containing the bodies of the soldiers. On the other side, Lebanese celebrated the release of its prisoners. Thousands took to the streets to celebrate, and welcome the prisoners first at the Lebanon-Israel border, and then at the Beirut airport where dozens of Lebanese politicians stood to meet the freed prisoners. Afterwards, the five traveled to Dahiyeh southern suburbs of Beirut where Hizballah organized a large celebration where the group's Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah made a rare appearance and spoke to the audience of tens of thousands calling the freeing of Kuntar and the four others a "victory" over Israel.
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