By KUNA,
Gaza : Israel announced on Tuesday that progress was made in indirect talks between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah to reach an agreement on a prisoner exchange.
The Israeli radio quoted Israeli sources as saying that “Israel presented a suggestion to Hezbollah through German mediators to exchange prisoners.” Israel and the Lebanese Shiite militant movement have been negotiating a prisoner swap since their 33-day war in the summer of 2006.
Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, in a July 2006 cross-border raid, which sparked the Israeli invasion and aerial bombing.
A source said, “(Hezbollah chie) Hassan Nassrallah’s speech yesterday, and his indications about the exchange of prisoners, is a hint that he might accept the Israeli proposal.” “Samir Kantar and his brothers will soon be home among their families,” Nasrallah said in a speech to commemorate the eighth anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000.
Kantar, a Lebanese Druze responsible for an attack in Israel, is the longest held among Lebanese prisoners in Israel.
Palestinian statistics show that Israel holds more than 11,000 Palestinian and Arab prisoners including women and children.