Hezbollah, Israel May Be Near Deal on Return of Dead Soldiers

Expectations heightened this week that an exchange would soon take place of two Israelis soldiers killed in Lebanon 10 years ago for the release of Lebanese prisoners held by Israel.

The Shi’ite Hezbollah movement confirmed this week that it was discussing the exchange with German mediators.

On Wednesday, reports surfaced that a team of six German officials, including a coroner and forensic expert who had Israeli army dental charts and other records of the missing men, arrived in Beirut to examine the remains prior to their return.

Initial reports said the bodies would be returned Wednesday.

But Hezbollah radio reported from Beirut that the exchange was postponed because Lebanese sources had leaked details of the agreement.

Bernd Schmidbauer, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s intelligence adviser, arrived this week in Damascus to finalize details of the agreement, according to Lebanese sources.

They added that if the terms of the exchange were finalized, it could take place before the end of the week.

Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy said, “There’s certainly room for more optimism,” though similar situations had developed in the past that ended in disappointment.

It was generally assumed that the remains of the two Israeli soldiers were those of American-born Yosef Fink and Rachamim Alsheikh, who were both killed in a February 1986 terrorist ambush of a convoy in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah has long admitted that it has the remains of the two soldiers and would be willing to exchange them for the release of some 200 Lebanese prisoners held by Israel and by its ally, the South Lebanon Army.

It was also reported that under the deal, Israel would hand over the remains of terrorists killed in the southern Lebanon security zone who are buried in northern Israel.

Channel Two Television reported that graves were being dug up in that area.

Israel said it would not free two Hezbollah leaders, Sheik Abdul Karim Obeid and Mustafa Dirani, unless it received information about the fate of Ron Arad, an air force navigator shot down over Lebanon in 1986.

Obeid was abducted from his home in Lebanon by Israeli commandos in 1988; Dirani was abducted in a similar operation in 1994.

Israel says that Arad is being held by Iran, which supports Hezbollah.

The families of Alsheikh and Fink were cautious about the latest developments.

“I won’t believe anyone until I am convinced that this is my son’s body,” said Alsheikh’s father, Shlomo.

“The media is taking this seriously, and we do feel that something is happening. But the end is still far off. I am still afraid that Hezbollah will change its mind at the last minute.”

He said he had not yet received any official word from the Israel Defense Force regarding the return of his son’s remains.

“We want it to come to some sort of end and get on with our lives,” said Fink’s mother, Hadas. “We want our son’s body brought here to be buried.”

In addition to Arad, Fink and Alsheikh, three other Israeli servicemen are missing in Lebanon.

Zechariah Baumel, Avi Feldman and Yehuda Katz disappeared June 11, 1982, in the battle of Sultan Yakoub at the beginning of Operation Peace for Galilee.