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For good or bad, families welcome the end By Jack Khoury Tags: Israel, IDF The families of kidnapped soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser say they have mixed feelings about the expected end today of more than two years of uncertainty and sadness. On the one hand, they are happy their sons will be returning home, and on the other, there are feelings of pessimism because of the assessment that the abducted soldiers are dead. "Personally, I feel a kind of joy that this whole matter finally reached the finish line, for good and for bad. We know for sure it's going to end," Shlomo Goldwasser, Ehud's father, told Haaretz. Advertisement Goldwasser said he was not thinking at all about the fact that the two soldiers are believed dead. "The main thing is it's over. I stress that Nasrallah said at the time that he had abducted live soldiers. If they are not alive, then they were murdered in captivity and he is responsible for murder." The Goldwasser family will gather at their home in Nahariya to wait for an official announcement from the Israel Defense Forces, which reportedly will come from the head of IDF human resources, Maj. Gen. Elazar Stern. They will go to Camp Shraga, near Nahariya, where the two soldiers will be taken from the border at Rosh Hanikra. Karnit Goldwasser, Ehud Goldwasser's wife, has been unavailable for comment over the past view days. Miki Goldwasser, Ehud's mother, said after the cabinet approved the swap yesterday that "there's no doubt there's a kind of relief. I believe not only we, the families of the kidnapped soldiers, are relieved, but so is the entire nation." Goldwasser added that "we hope this feeling of relief will come as soon as possible to the Shalit family." Miki Goldwasser also commented on the report in Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar that one of the soldiers was killed during the abduction and the status of the other was unknown. She called it "part of Nasrallah's psychological warfare" and said the families believe their sons are alive. Eyal Regev, Eldad Regev's brother, said his family would be waiting for the IDF report at their home in the Haifa Bay suburb of Kiryat Motzkin. "There is no doubt we are very tense," Regev said. "These are very hard hours of waiting. We raise two scenarios in our minds: One includes the bitter news and the second could mean great joy for us. There is no doubt we still have a sliver of hope in our hearts that we will see them alive." Regev also said the swap was "the deal with the lowest price Israel could have paid." Bookmark to del.icio.us   Hezbollah abduction How the Lebanese militia captured two IDF reservists in 2006, illustrated in pictures. Kuntar's crimes Israeli YouTube video details the 1979 terror attack perpetrated by Samir Kuntar.

Read & React PRISONER SWAP: Bodies of Goldwasser and Regev identified; funerals Thursday Responses: 359 'We want to remember our son as he was, not as a body' Responses: 103 Bradley Burston: The pleasure Hezbollah takes in torture Responses: 174 The new 'Obama advisor' problem: Senator Chuck Hagel Responses: 62 More Headlines 23:36 'We cut out newspapers to show you when you returned' 23:45 Regev and Goldwasser to receive military funerals Thursday 00:06 VIDEO: Israel posts clip on YouTube describing Kuntar's 1979 attack 23:06 Veteran Mideast journalist Eric Silver dies aged 73 02:39 Talansky cross-examination over 'cash envelopes' to begin Thursday 01:30 Israel concerned by U.S. plans to meet with Iranian envoy 15:14 Turkish FM: Israel, Syria show will for peace, to hold 4th round of indirect talks 18:27 Abbas congratulates Kuntar's family for killer's release 02:17 Former MI head under investigation for disclosing state secrets 02:56 Outside the Regev home, family and neighbors share the sorrow 00:09 The new 'Obama advisor' problem: Senator Chuck Hagel Previous Editions Select Day 16 jul 15 jul 14 jul 13 jul 11 jul 10 jul 09 jul 08 jul 07 jul 06 jul 04 jul 03 jul

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