When Hezbollah fighters captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border operation in July 2006, the Shiite group dubbed it "Sincere Pledge," in reference to a vow that it would capture Israelis to exchange them for Lebanese prisoner, Samir Kuntar, the longest-serving Arab detainee whom Israel had refused to free in the seven previous exchanges.

However, the operation sparked a 34-day war that killed over 1,000 Lebanese civilians, an unknown number of Hezbollah fighters, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

Hezbollah, backed by Iran and Syria, described its fighters' fierce resistance during the war as a victory.

But it was Wednesday's swap, carried out by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), that was widely regarded as the decisive and final victory for the group, as it handed over the bodies of the two soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, in return for a hefty bargain of living prisoners, including Kuntar, and remains of Lebanese, Palestinian and other Arab guerrillas.

Banners lined the streets across Lebanon, proclaiming: "Joy in Lebanon, pain in Israel," an image that was apparently reflected in reality as the Lebanese celebrated and Israelis grieved, amid growing Israeli criticism that the deal had boosted Hezbollah's strength and undermined Israel.

The fate of Goldwasser and Regev was not known for sure until Hezbollah handed over to the ICRC two black coffins, after which the Israelis confirmed in DNA tests they belonged to the soldiers, drawing tears of grief from their families and criticism in Israel for accepting the deal, which was brokered by U.N.-appointed German Gerhard Konrad after lengthy negotiations.

In return, Hezbollah secured the freedom of Kuntar and four Hezbollah fighters captured in the 2006 war, as well as the remains of almost 200 Lebanese, Palestinian and other Arab guerrillas exhumed in the past week.

Kuntar, a Lebanese Druze, was sentenced to five life prison terms for a 1979 guerrilla ambush that killed three Israelis, including a child.

The five freed prisoners, all dressed in military fatigues, received an official welcome by Lebanon's top leaders, including President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, at Beirut airport, where they flew from Naqoura by army and U.N. helicopters, before heading to the Hezbollah stronghold of the southern suburbs in Beirut for a massive public reception and rally.

People lined the airport road to give heroes' welcome to the freed detainees, and the government declared Wednesday a national holiday.

Earlier at the Naqoura crossing point bordering Israel, Hezbollah began receiving coffins holding bodies of Hezbollah guerrillas killed in the last war and four bodies of Palestinians, including that of which the group said was Dalal Moghrabi, who died in a guerrilla operation she led in Israel in 1978.

Hezbollah said DNA tests proved it was Moghrabi's remains.

Hailed as an Arab heroine and symbol of the Palestinian resistance, but a terrorist by the Israelis, Moghrabi was killed in a battle with Israeli security forces after her group blew up a bus they hijacked on the Tel Aviv-Haifa road, killing 36 people.

A famous picture that has recently resurfaced with the swap shows Israel's current Defense Minister Ehud Barak parading her body shortly after she was killed.

In Naqoura, the coffins carrying her and her comrades' remains were covered with flowers and placed in a truck decorated with the Lebanese, Palestinian and Hezbollah flags, as they were granted heroes' praise by hundreds who gathered to greet the prisoners and the remains.

The remains of the rest of the Arab fighters continued to cross the border on ICRC refrigerated trucks later in the day.

Hezbollah dubbed the swap operation as "al-Radwan," the nom de guerre of Hezbollah's military commander Imad Mughnieh, who was assassinated in a car bombing in Damascus in February.

Although Israel welcomed his death but denied involvement, the Shiite organization accused Israel of killing him and vowed to avenge his death.

But the vengeance, it seems, came in the form of the prisoner exchange deal, which Hezbollah named in Mughnieh's honor, as the Hezbollah men overseeing the exchange and organizing rallies and red-carpet receptions in Naqoura and Beirut's southern suburbs appeared to resemble a photo of the bearded Mughnieh wearing a cap, which filled the streets of Lebanon.

The Lebanese, who appeared to be backed by millions of Arabs who were glued to their television sets watching live coverage of the swap, see the development as an important victory for Hezbollah, and one that closed the "prisoners' dossier," making the Lebanese group the only one to have secured the freedom of all the country's prisoners in Israel.

For critics in Israel, the swap deal had given credence to Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, who over the years had promised to secure the release of Kuntar through any means, and made good on that promise on Wednesday, almost two years to the day after the two soldiers were captured for that purpose.

"The Hezbollah leader will entrench his image as the only Arab leader who fought against Israel and defeated it," said a commentary in Israel's Maariv tabloid.