Israel will ‘never discover’ Arad’s fate

Israel will probably never find out the fate of missing navigator Ron Arad, a senior Israeli figure said this week.

Last weekend, Hizbollah delivered a dossier on its efforts to locate the navigator, who bailed out over Lebanon 22 years ago, as part of the prisoner deal.

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First grisly stage of prisoner swap begins

The IDF Chaplains Corps began exhuming bodies from a special graveyard this week as part of the first stage of the prisoner exchange between Israel and Hizbollah.

For its part, Hizbollah presented their preliminary report on missing IAF navigator Ron Arad, shot down over Lebanon in 1986.

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Hizbollah, Israel settle terms of prisoner swap

Israel is due to receive Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, captured two years ago, in the next two weeks in return for five Lebanese prisoners and the bodies of 10 Hizbollah fighters.

The cabinet voted this Sunday in favour of the plan despite Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warning that the two soldiers are presumed to be dead.

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You can’t be Hizbollah now: UK to ban support for group

Support for the armed wing of the Lebanese Hizbollah militia is to be barred under Britain’s anti-terrorism laws, the Home Office announced on Wednesday.

The group’s external security organisation was already included in the government’s list of outlawed terror groups, drawn up under legislation passed eight years ago. Now Hizbollah’s entire military structure is to be banned. This reflects UK anger that the organisation, which faced Israel in the second Lebanon war, also supports terrorism against British troops in Iraq.

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Prisoner swap close as families cling to hope

A prisoner deal between Israel and Hizbollah is a “matter of days” away, according to Israeli officials, as the families of the captured israeli soldiers cling to hope they might still be alive.

In the deal, Israel will transfer to Lebanon convicted murderer Samir Kuntar and four Hizbollah members. Israel will receive its two soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, who were captured two years ago. The unofficial assumption in Israel is that the soldiers are dead.

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Hizbollah ‘eager’ to do prisoner swap

Hizbollah has indicated that it is eager to reach a prisoner-swap deal with Israel, which will include the two captured Israeli soldiers and six Lebanese prisoners being held by Israel.

Lebanese media outlets close to Hizbollah have been reporting an impending deal this week, although Israeli sources suggest this is an effort by Hizbollah to push the negotiations forward.

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