Court authorizes release of 3 Hizbullah terrorists

Nazareth District Court authorizes transfer of three Lebanese terrorists to Red Cross custody ahead of Wednesday's prisoner exchange with Hizbullah. Haran's brother: Captives’ families will be able to sigh in relief, but we’ll continue to hurt with pain

Sharon Roffe-Ophir|Last update: 07.15.08 , 19:34

The Nazareth District Court authorized Tuesday afternoon the release of Hizbullah terrorists Mohammad Srur, Hussein Suleiman and Maher Qurani within the framework of Israel's prisoner exchange deal with the Lebanese Shiite group, which is expected to be carried out Wednesday.

The release of another Hizbullah gunman and notorious terrorist Samir Kuntar is pending President Shimon Peres' approval. Peres met Tuesday afternoon with members of the Haran family, who tried to convince him not to authorize Kuntar's release. Danny Haran and his two daughters were killed by Kuntar in a cross-border raid on Nahariya in 1979.

Ronnie Haran, Danny's brother said following the meeting “we don’t believe the president will change his position. The captives’ families will be able to sigh in relief, but we’ll continue to hurt with pain.”

"We expressed our pain to the president. The price is very high for the family; our suffering has not ended. The president sympathized with us, and it will be much harder now for him to approve (Kuntar's) release."

Danny Haran's mother at president's residence (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

Peres later met with the family of Eliyahu Shahar, who was also killed by Kuntar during the same raid on Nahariya. Ronen Shahar, Eliyahu's brother, said following the meeting "it was hard for the president to look me in the eyes. He said it was difficult for him and that it was tearing him up inside, but the decision (to free Kuntar) has already been made.

"The bodies (of the slain Hizbullah terrorists) have already been exhumed, and nothing can stop the prisoner exchange from taking place. We never should have come here," he said.

Nazareth District Court Deputy Chief Justice Judge Yitzhak Cohen, granted the State Prosecution's Office's request to authorize the Hizbullah terrorists' release and allow their transfer into Red Cross custody. The three are currently being tried for their involvement in an act of terror. They were apprehended just one week after the Second Lebanon War began.