Over the last 30 years, Israel has released about 7,000 Palestinian prisoners to secure freedom for 19 Israelis and to retrieve the bodies of eight others. A number of diplomatic efforts have been made to secure the release of Israeli IDF personnel following their capture by enemy forces.
Contents |
On December 7, 1969 two Israeli citizens whose plane was hijacked to Damascus, and two Israeli pilots, Giora Rom and Nissim Ashkenazi who were shot down over the Suez Canal in the war of attrition, was exchanged for 71 Egyptian and Syrian prisoners held in Israel.
During the Israeli invasion of Lebanon (the Litani Operation) IDF soldier Avraham Amram was captured in a clash April 5, 1978, with Palestinian PLO forces at Rashidieh camp in South Lebanon. Four other Israeli soldiers were killed while two others managed to escape to Israeli held territory. He was exchanged March 14, 1979 for 76 convicted Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. [1][2]
September 3, 1982 two Palestinian fighters surprised an IDF outpost near Bhamdoun, in central Lebanon. Eight IDF soldiers from the Nahal brigade surrendered without a fight and were taken prisoners by the Palestinians. Their behavior was deemed "unacceptable" by IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Levy.[3] Six of the prisoners were held by the main PLO faction, Fatah, while the remaining two were held by PFLP-GC, led by Ahmad Jibril.
The six Fatah prisoners (Eliyahu Abutbul, Dani Gilboa, Rafi Hazan, Reuven Cohen, Avraham Motevaliski, and Avraham Kornfeld) were released November 23, 1983 in exchange for 4700 Palestinians and Lebanese imprisoned at Ansar camp during the 1982 Lebanon war and 65 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.[4]
The remaining two soldiers (Yosef Grof and Nissim Salem), as well as a third IDF prisoner (Hezi Shai) captured during the battle of Sultan Ya'qoub, also held by the Jibril group, were released May 21, 1985, in exchange for 1150 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli jails. During the so-called “Jibril deal” several controversial prisoners, such as Kozo Okamoto, were released.[4][2] [1]
On Sept 12, 1991 the body of IDFsoldier Samir Assad, was returned to Israel in exchange for two members of the Palestinian DFLP faction. Assad was killed outside Sidon in 1983.[1]
Two Israeli soldiers, Yosef Fink and Rachmim Alsheich, were killed in a Hezbollah attack on an IDF roadblock at Beit Yahoun in southern Lebanon on July 17, 1986. Their bodies were retained by the Lebanese and only released on July 21, 1996 in exchange for the bodies of 123 Lebanese fighters held by Israel.[1] Hizbollah released 17 soldiers from the South Lebanon Army (SLA) while SLA released 45 detainees Khiam prison.[5]
On May 25, 1998 the remains of IDF soldier Itamar Ilyah was exchanged for 65 Lebanese prisoners and the bodies of 40 Hezbollah fighters and Lebanese soldiers captured by Israel.[4] Among those returned to Lebanon, were the remains of Hadi Nasrallah, the son of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in a clash with IDF the year before. Ilyah was killed in a devastating Hezbollah ambush at Ansariyeh, where 12 soldiers from the elite naval commando unit Shayetet 13 were killed in Sept 5, 1997.[1]
In 2003, Israel released the remains of two Hezbollah members, in exchange for allowing the German mediator to visit the Israeli Col. Elhanan Tannenbaum held by Hezbollah.[5]
Over 400 Palestinian and 30 Lebanese prisoners, including Hezbollah leaders ash-Sheikh Abdal-Karim Obeid and Mustafa Dirani, as well as the remains of 59 Lebanese killed by Israel, were exchanged in 2004 for the bodies of three IDF soldiers (Adi Avitan, Benny Avraham and Omar Souad) captured in the Sheba Farms area in 2000 and Elhanan Tannenbaum, an Israeli colonel in the reserves, kidnapped by Hezbollah in Dubai in October 2000.[4]
In October 2007 Israel and Hizbullah agreed to exchange Hassan Aqil, a civilian Hezbullah member captured in 2006, and the remains of two Hezbullah fighters killed in this war and brought to Israel for the remains of Gabriel Dwait, an Israeli resident who drowned in 2005 and was washed ashore in Lebanon.[6][5]
On June 1, 2008, Israel released the Lebanese prisoner Nissim Nasser, in exchange for which Hezbollah handed over the partial remains of up to 20 Israeli soldiers killed during the 2006 Lebanon War.[7][8]
In July 2008 Israel released long time serving Lebanese prisoner Samir al-Quntar, four Hezbollah fighters captured in the 2006 Lebanon war and the bodies of 199 Palestinian, Lebanese of Arab fighters captured by Israel in the past three decades. In exchange Hezbollah released the bodies of two Israeli soldiers (Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev) captured in a cross-border raid July 12, 2006.
On 18 October 2011 captured IDF tank gunner Gilad Shalit, captured by the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas in 2006, was released in exchange for 1027 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.