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| 15/07/2008 Preparations for victory celebrations of “Operation Al-Redwan” are going on a fast pace in Lebanon as the whole country is readying to welcome its heroes who have been in Israeli jails for a long time in the Israeli swap deal with Hezbollah.
Israel's cabinet gave its final go-ahead on Tuesday to “Operation Al-Redwan” with Hezbollah, setting the stage for the exchange on Wednesday at 9 am, Israeli deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai said. "The government ratified the accord," Yishai told journalists after the cabinet meeting. The deal was approved with a majority vote of 22 ministers favor and three opposed.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who returned from Paris on Monday night, announced before taking off that the report delivered by Hezbollah on the fate of missing Israeli army navigator Ron Arad was "insufficient".
Hezbollah and supporters set up a "triumphal arch" near the Naqoura crossing, where the exchange is scheduled to take place – Lebanese detainees and bodies of 200 martyrs in return for captured Israeli occupation soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser.
The yellow arch, which bears the pictures of assassinated Hezbollah military commander Imad Moghniyeh (Haj Redwan), has been erected in several places in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah flags and victory pictures have been hung along the Lebanese coastal highway connecting between Naqoura and Sidon.
Lebanese media reported that the celebrations will be held in three places – in Naqoura, upon receiving the bodies of some 200 Lebanese and Arab martyrs; in Beirut's international airport, where five Lebanese detainees – including detainee Samir Kintar – will be received by the Presiden, the Speaker and the PM; and in Dahiya (Beirut’s southern suburb), which will host a mass rally to be crowned by a speech for Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
ISRAEL PREPARES FUNERALS FOR CAPTURED SOLDIERS
The picture on the other side of the border is completely different. The Israeli occupation army began preparations for military funerals to be held on Thursday, although no word about the fate of the captured soldiers has been formally said by any official source from Hezbollah.
In contrast to the occupation army, the International Red Cross plans to post a doctor on either side of the border to provide treatment if needed, its spokeswoman Yael Segev-Eitan told Israeli daily “The Jerusalem Post”.
"We have no indication of what to expect, so we have made preparations for either eventuality," Segev-Eitan said. "A doctor will wait on the Lebanese side of the border and another doctor will wait on the Israeli side," she said. "Our Lebanon mission has not received any orders yet."
On Monday, the Israeli cabinet met for a special session to discuss Hezbollah's report on its efforts to determine the fate of missing Israeli airman Ron Arad. The ministers were briefed on its assessment following deliberations by the heads of the country's intelligence organizations.
A number of ministers and advisors estimated Monday that despite such problems, a majority of the cabinet will vote in favor of completing the exchange tomorrow.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Olmert met to discuss Hezbollah's report on Arad ahead of Tuesday's cabinet session. They were joined by senior defense officials. On Sunday night, the heads of the security establishment and intelligence agencies met to discuss the report, and the disagreements remained: the head of the Mossad, Meir Dagan, and the head of the Shin Bet security service, Yuval Diskin, oppose the swap deal in its present form. The head of Military Intelligence, Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, as well as his commander, Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, support the deal, despite their reservations about the report on Ron Arad.
Ofer Dekel, the chief Israeli negotiator for the deal with the Hezbollah, is scheduled to present the report to the cabinet along with the framework of the deal.
Meanwhile, the Israel Prisons Service has placed the four Hezbollah detainees together in the Hadarim Prison near Netanya, in preparation for their return to Lebanon as part of the deal, along with detainee Samir Kintar.
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