Israel on Friday handed over the bodies of three Hizbullah fighters killed by Israeli fire during a clash earlier this week. The handover took place via the Red Cross and a United Nations peace-keeping force at the Naqura border crossing on the border.
"The three bodies of the Hizbullah terrorists killed when they attacked Israel have been returned to Lebanon following the Lebanese government's urgent request to do so," the Israeli Army said in a statement. "The bodies were returned as a confidence-building gesture to create calm along the Israel-Lebanon border," an Israeli source added, according to Haaretz.
The move came after Israel declared late on Thursday it would respect Lebanon's requests and return the bodies. Israeli sources said they consider Lebanon's official request to be a "positive development." "We have not intentions to become body dealers," the sources said. "The request was genuine and we therefore decided to accede," they added.
