Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah group began swapping prisoners Wednesday morning at the Rosh Hanikra Lebanon-Israel border crossing.

Hezbollah returned via the Red Cross two black coffins to the Israeli side, believed to contain the remains of Israeli soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, kidnapped by the Lebanese group two years ago.

Many Israelis, including the two soldiers' families and friends, burst into tears when they saw the coffins. Before the swap, Israeli army said that Goldwasser and Regev might have been dead, while the families insisted that no evidence could verify that conclusion.

Israel is then to determine the identities of those in the coffins.

Once the identities are confirmed, Israel will then return four imprisoned Hezbollah militants - Maher Kourani, Khodor Zaidan, Mohammed Srour and Hussein Suleiman - and the Lebanese killer, Samir Kuntar, who was sentenced to life plus 40 years in prison for murdering three family members and a police officer in Nahariya in 1979.

Besides, Israel is also to hand over the bodies of 199 others killed while infiltrating northern Israel. The remains have been transported to the border earlier Wednesday.

(Xinhua News Agency July 16, 2008)