Israel Agrees to Hezbollah Prisoner Swap

Israel has signed a prisoner exchange deal with Hezbollah which includes the release of a terrorist who has been in an Israeli prison for 29 years. The release of Samir Qantar, who took part in a terror raid in which a child was murdered, is the most controversial element of the deal for Israelis, reports the BBC.

Hezbollah has agreed to hand over two Israeli soldiers, believed to be dead, whose abduction triggered a 34-day war in 2006, and to provide information on Ron Arad, an Israeli airman shot down over Lebanon in 1986. Israel agreed to hand over captured fighters, as well as the bodies of Lebanese killed in years of clashes. Digging for their remains has already begun. (More Israel stories.)