2000 Hezbollah cross-border raid

On October 7, 2000, three Israeli soldiers were abducted by Hezbollah while patrolling the Israeli side of the Israeli-Lebanese border. [cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2001/2/Israelis%20Held%20by%20the%20Hizbullah%20-%20Oct%202000-Jan%202004| title = Israelis Held by the Hizbullah - Oct 2000-Jan 2004| publisher="mfa.gov.il"] The soldiers were killed either during the attack or in its immediate aftermath. [cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/01/29/prisoner.exchange/| title = Israel, Hezbollah swap prisoners| publisher="CNN"] Their bodies were returned to Israel in a 2004 prisoner exchange.

The Abduction

While patrolling the Israel-Lebanon borderline near the Shebaa Farms at Har Dov, an IDF patrol manned by Adi Avitan (22), Staff Sgt. Benyamin Avraham (21), and Staff Sgt. Omar Sawaid (27), was ambushed by a Hezbollah squad who had disguised itself as UN personnel, using uniforms and vehicles carrying the UNIFIL insignia. Findings from the scene of the abduction indicate that the soldiers' vehicle was bombed, and that as a result of the explosion and the shootings, all or at least some of the soldiers were wounded.

Since their abduction, they were held incommunicado by Hezbollah in an unknown location. The captors denied the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and other parties permission to visit them and to learn at first hand about their state of health and the conditions they were held in. [cite web|url=http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-wosold094845198aug09,0,7735684.story| title = IsraelWar touches raw nerve for grieving parents| publisher="Newsday"]

Prisoner exchange

On November 9, 2003, the Government of Israel announced that an arrangement had been concluded regarding the return of the three missing IDF soldiers - as well as abducted Israeli citizen Elchanan Tenenbaum, who had been captured by Hezbollah after being lured to Dubai for a drug deal.

Hezbollah instigated negotiations over the release of 14 Lebanese prisoners, together with a number of Palestinian prisoners. On January 29, 2004, 30 Lebanese and Arab prisoners, 400 Palestinian prisoners, and the remains of 59 Lebanese militants and civilians were transferred to Hezbollah, along with maps showing Israeli mines in South Lebanon, in exchange for Tenenbaum and the remains of the three dead soldiers. [cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/01/29/prisoner.exchange/| title = Israel, Hezbollah swap prisoners| publisher="CNN"] [cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2004/The%20release%20of%20security%20prisoners%20and%20administrati| title = The release of security prisoners and administrative detainees - 29-Jan-2004| publisher="mfa.gov.il"]

Among the 435 people released by Israel were Mustafa Dirani and Sheik Abdel Karim Obeid. These two individuals were kidnapped, in 1994 and 1989 respectively, for use as bargaining chips in the effort to secure the release of the most famous of the Israeli MIAs, Ron Arad. Fearing the release of these men would end any hope of finding Arad, his family attempted to take legal action to prevent their release. Nothing came of this effort.

The bodies were positively identified and arrived during the evening hours in Israel. The soldiers were returned in an IAF aircraft along with an IDF delegation headed by Chief Military Rabbi, Brg. Gen. Israel Weiss. Upon the arrival of the coffins, a military ceremony took place in the presence of their families and commanders. The ceremony was attended by President Moshe Katsav, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin and IDF Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Moshe Ya'alon. [cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2004/Government+statement+on+prisoner+exchange+-+24-Jan.htm| title = Government statement on prisoner exchange - 24-Jan-2004| publisher="mfa.gov.il"]

Post abduction events

* Hezbollah continued to attack civilians and IDF patrols in the Shebaa Farms area in the leadup to the the 2006 Lebanon War.
* Hezbollah's desire for Israeli prisoners that could be exchanged with Israel led to Hezbollah's abduction of Israeli soldiers, which triggered the 2006 Lebanon War.
* On July 16, 2008, Hezbollah exchanged the bodies of the two Israeli soldiers captured during the 2006 Lebanon War, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, for Lebanese convicted murderer Samir Kuntar, four Hezbollah militants captured by Israel during the 2006 Lebanon War (Khaled Zidan, Maher Kurani, Mohammed Sarur and Hussein Suleiman), and the bodies of 200 Lebanese and Palestinians.

ee also

* Israeli MIA prisoner exchanges
* Israeli-Lebanese conflict
* 2000-2006 Shebaa Farms conflict
* United Nations Security Council Resolution 425
* United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon
* 2006 Lebanon War
* Israeli MIAs

References

External links

*cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Speeches%20by%20Israeli%20leaders/2004/Address%20by%20PM%20Sharon%20upon%20the%20arrival%20of%20the%20bodie| title = Address by PM Sharon upon the arrival of the bodies of the kidnapped soldiers - Jan 29- 2004| publisher="mfa.gov.il"