9:41AM IL: The International Red Cross has just shown the coffins of IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, confirming intelligence reports that the two are not among the living. 10:08AM IL: A short time ago, two coffins, presumably containing the remains of IDF reservists Sergeant-Major Ehud Goldwasser and Staff-Sergeant Eldad Regev, were returned to Israel by representatives of the International Red Cross. The first order of business is the identification process of the remains of the soldiers. The coffins are returned two years and four days after the soldiers were taken prisoner by Hizbullah terrorists in a cross-border attack in northern Israel. Once the bodies have been positively identified, Israel will permit the release of Samir Kuntar and four other Lebanese terrorists and the return of the remains of 199 terrorists. Simultaneously, IDF Major-Generals Elazar Stern and Gadi Shamni will make their way to the homes of the Goldwasser and Regev families to inform them of the fate of their sons. In a somewhat ironic twist, Stern, who is the head of the IDF’s Human Resources Branch, notified both families that their sons were taken captive. Today, Stern’s last day in the IDF, he must now inform the families their loved ones are no longer among the living. Shamni is the IDF Central Division Commander and the senior commander of the two. (Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)

Captive IDF soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser are expected to return home to Israel on Wednesday morning at 9;00AM at the Rosh HaNikra Crossing to southern Lebanon. Representatives of the International Red Cross will actually transfer them the last distance into Israel. While it is presumed the two are dead, until the actual event, there is still some hope that at least one of the soldiers is alive, based on statements released by Hizbullah-aligned media in recent days. After the two are returned, military officials will first deal with making a positive identification. Only after this has been accomplished will Israel permit the return of terrorists and bodies to southern Lebanon. If the soldiers are dead, the identification process is expected to take a number of hours. If they are dead, military funerals are expected to be held on Thursday. After the identification process is completed, Major-General Gadi Shamni and Major-General Elazar Stern will visit the Regev and Goldwasser homes, informing them of the fate of their sons. During the predawn hours on Wednesday, Samir Kuntar and four other Lebanese terrorists were transferred to Rosh HaNikra. In addition, 23 Red Cross trucks carrying 199 bodies of terrorists made their way to the crossing point area as well. IDF troops remain on alert status in the northern Liman Camp in the event of any surprises. The force is ready to respond to any eventuality. In preparation for the event, the IDF late Tuesday night declared the crossing area a closed military zone. Among those present at the border crossing station are representatives of the IDF Chief Rabbinate, military police from the criminal investigations unit, senior commanders, and other officials playing a role in the complex prisoner exchange operation. (Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)

Modi’in Illit, considered the third largest Torah center in the country, was officially designated a city after Interior Minister Meir Shetreet approved a recommendation by Central Command Head Gen. Gadi Shamni to make the local council into a municipality. Rabbi Yaakov Guterman, until recently head of the local council and now mayor, noted Modi’in Illit had already been functioning as a city before the change. “The city’s merit lies in the talmidei chachomim and the Torah and Chassidus institutions that grace it,” he said. The decision followed years of deliberations by a special committee and in-depth inquiries into Modi’in Illit’s development and management. The recent move follows a similar decision by Defense Minister Ehud Barak to declare Modi’in Illit a city. In a written reply to a question by Minister Shetreet, Barak wrote that he supports declaring it a city. The message was clear: all of the recent talk about a construction freeze does not apply to Modi’in Illit. (By A. Cohen for Dei’ah veDibur)

At least 15 people were hurt Tuesday morning as Israeli security forces evacuated more than 200 protesters from the wholesale market in the city of Chevron – and police took four protesters into custody. Hundreds had barricaded themselves in three apartments, and had encircled the market with barbed wire, oil drums, and burning tires. Protesters had also locked and welded shut the doors to the apartments. Dozens of teenagers, some of them wearing masks, threw rocks, eggs, and light bulbs at security forces. Large numbers of police ascended the roofs. The IDF hired a moving company, and soldiers loaded the evacuated families’ possessions onto the trucks. In addition, police removed windows and doorposts from the apartments, in order to prevent a possible attempt by settlers to return in the future. The Hebron Jewish committee reiterated Tuesday that it intends to return Jewish settlers to the market, when possible. Meanwhile, 12 Israel Defense Forces soldiers in the Duchifat Battalion refused orders to take part in the evacuation, in the most wide-scale military refusal since the disengagement from Gaza two years ago. They were brought before a disciplinary hearing last night, on the orders of GOC Central Command Gadi Shamni. Shamni also decided the soldiers will no longer be allowed to serve in combat units.”This is a phenomenon that endangers the basis on which the IDF operates, as an army of the people in a democratic country, and its obligation to carry out the tasks assigned to it,” Shamni said. (Complete story on Haaretz)