A court in Israel yesterday postponed a decision to mid-July on whether to free two Lebanese detainees whose imprisonment is a source of continuing tension between Israel and Hizbullah.
Hizbullah's Sheikh Abdel Karim Obeid and Amal's Mustaffa Dirani, were abducted by Israel in an attempt to retrieve Israeli soldiers missing in action. Hizbullah leaders are demanding their release as a precondition for the cessation of attacks on Israel.
In the Tel Aviv District Court, a state prosecutor argued that Mr Obeid and Mr Dirani, kidnapped by Israel in 1989 and 1994 respectively, remained a threat to state security and so should not be released. "Not one of them said that if they go back to Lebanon they will grow roses," the prosecutor argued.
Israeli lawyer, Mr Zvi Rish, who was representing the two in their first public appearance, insisted that they no longer posed a threat to Israel now that Israeli soldiers had withdrawn from Lebanon. "The argument they will endanger Israeli security," he said, "is just a pretext to keep them here as bargaining chips."
Israel had originally abducted Mr Obeid and Mr Dirani in the hope that they could be exchanged for the Israeli airman, Mr Ron Arad, who was shot down in Lebanon in 1986, and held for a period by Mr Dirani.
Last month the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that it was illegal for the state to use Lebanese civilians as bargaining chips and that they could only be kept in detention if they posed a threat to the country's security. Thirteen Lebanese were subsequently freed.
While Judge Uri Goren said he was delaying his decision to July 12th, the administrative orders of the two, which are renewed every three months, will be up for review in mid-June by the Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak, who will make the decision in his capacity as defence minister.
There has been no suggestion to date that Mr Barak will set them free.
The Hizbullah leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, has threatened that until all Lebanese detainees in Israel - there are some 15 - are released, his movement may continue armed attacks against Israel.
Meanwhile, quiet returned to the Israel-Lebanese border yesterday after several days in which Lebanese civilians hurled rocks at Israeli soldiers and tried to climb the border fence.
Israel also continued its efforts to win UN verification of its pull-out yesterday, blowing up one of its military outposts just inside Lebanese territory.