Israel signs prisoner swap with Hezbollah

JERUSALEM, July 7 (UPI) -- Israel has signed a deal with Hezbollah intended to secure the release of two captured Israeli soldiers, both presumed dead, officials said Monday.

The Israeli prime minister's office said the U.N.-backed agreement was signed in front of a U.N. envoy by Israeli negotiator Ofer Dekel, CNN reported.

The Israeli Cabinet approved the deal with Hezbollah June 29 and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah announced his group had accepted the agreement days later.

In exchange for the release of the Israeli soldiers Ehud "Udi" Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, Israel would release convicted murderer Sami Kuntar, who is considered a hero by Hezbollah.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Cabinet last week that "as far as we know, our two soldiers ... are not alive," but Hezbollah leader Nasrallah called Olmert's statement speculative.

Kuntar and a group of men entered Israel from Lebanon by boat in 1979 and killed a police officer who came across them. The men took a 28-year-old man and his 4-year-old daughter hostage.

Kuntar was sentenced to life in prison for shooting the father to death at close range in front of his daughter.