Israel has long history of lopsided prisoner swaps

Israel agreed Sunday to free a Lebanese convicted of a brutal attack in 1979, along with prisoners and bodies of Hezbollah fighters, in exchange for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers. Israel has carried out unbalanced prisoner swaps in the past. Here are details some of those exchanges:

January 2004: Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon exchange an Israeli civilian and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers for 436 Arab prisoners and the bodies of 59 Lebanese fighters.

July, 1996: Israel frees 65 prisoners for the bodies of two soldiers.

September 1991: Israel trades 51 prisoners for proof that one of its soldiers held in Lebanon is dead.

May 1985: Three Israeli soldiers captured in Lebanon in 1982 are traded for 1,150 Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners. The lopsided deal comes under harsh criticism that intensifies after the freed prisoners play important roles in a Palestinian uprising that began in 1987.

November 1983: Israel swaps 4,600 Palestinian and Lebanese captives for six Israeli soldiers abducted Sept. 4, 1982, from their forward post in Lebanon. Most of the Arab prisoners had been rounded up during Israel's invasion of Lebanon. An additional 100 are freed from Israeli jails, where they were serving lengthy terms for terrorism.