Following Thursday's exchange of bodies between Israel and Lebanon, Israel yesterday completed the two-phase deal - by freeing 10 Lebanese prisoners from its jails, and another 50 from the Khiam Prison inside its selfdeclared security zone in south Lebanon.
The Red Cross, which helped broker the exchange, then transported almost all of the released prisoners to a village near Sidon, where they were reunited with their families. Four of the 60, however, elected to remain inside the Israeli-held security zone. And one chose to stay behind in Israel.
Yesterday's releases were by far the most controversial aspect of the deal. For Israel to have delivered the bodies of 40 Hizbullah gunmen on Thursday, in return for the remains of a single soldier, Itamar Ilya, killed in a Hizbullah ambush in south Lebanon last year, was not out of the ordinary. For the deal also to feature the release of living Hizbullah and other prisoners marked a deviation from the norms of past decades.
And several Israeli security officials have questioned the wisdom of the equation, arguing that, since the Hizbullah leadership now knows it can secure the release of its captured fighters in return for Israeli corpses, it no longer has any incentive to keep captured Israeli soldiers alive.
Undeterred by such criticisms, Israel's Defence Minister, Mr Yitzhak Mordechai, vowed yesterday to do whatever was necessary to trace four remaining Israeli MiAs, most of whom are presumed dead. And Israel is still holding in excess of 150 Lebanese prisoners, who could serve as potential bargaining chips.
The bitter irony about this week's painstakingly negotiated exchange is that as the mini-war in south Lebanon rages on, two more Israeli soldiers were killed on Thursday - despite the fact that both sides profess a desire to end it.
Israel has offered to withdraw from its security zone, provided the Lebanese Army deploys there to ensure relative quiet; the Hizbullah leadership has hinted that it would not seek to attack across the Lebanon-Israel border were the Israelis to pull back.
The fighting continues because Israel won't withdraw unless it gets security guarantees from the Lebanese government. And the Lebanese government, following Syrian directives, won't give such guarantees until Israel relinquishes another area of occupied land - the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in 1967.
Michael Jansen adds:
Among the detainees were at least four Lebanese army soldiers. All had been held for up to 14 years without trial.
Israel still holds 167 Lebanese, including Sheikh Abdel Karim Obeid and Mr Mustapha Dirani, leading figures in Hizbullah, kidnapped in 1989 and 1994. At yesterday's welcoming ceremonies at Kafr Falous the Lebanese Prime Minister, Mr Rafiq Hariri, called the prisoners "national heroes". The UN General Assembly yesterday called on Israel to pay $2.4 million for damage from its shelling of a UN base in southern Lebanon. About 100 Lebanese civilians were killed in the shelling of the UYN base at Qana on April 18th, 1996.