Bodies of kidnapped soldiers return to Israel in 2003
Photo: Channel 2
IDF buries 10 Hizbullah terrorists in Israel
Army official says transfer of terrorists’ bodies to Israel for burial not done at random; bodies may be used in future exchange deal for return of kidnapped soldiers
The Israel Defense Forces buried in Israel the bodies of 10 Hizbullah terrorists killed in fighting in southern Lebanon.
The bodies were buried in a military cemetery for fallen enemy soldiers at the Amiad military base in the north.
An IDF official told Ynet that dozens of terrorists were killed in face-to-face combat with army forces, but added that there is no point in transferring all the bodies to Israeli territory and that the activity itself endangers the soldiers.
The official refused to say how the IDF decided on which bodies would be transferred to Israel, but hinted that it was not done at random.
The IDF may use the bodies buried on Monday in future deals for the release of kidnapped Israeli soldiers Eldad Regev, Ehud Goldwasser and Gilad Shalit.
In 2003 the bodies of Hizbullah terrorists were returned to Lebanon in the framework of the deal in which Elchanan Tenenbaum and the bodies of three IDF soldiers kidnapped in October 2000 were returned to Israel.
