Israel deports man who spied for Hezbollah amid rumor of broader prisoner-swap

NAQOURA, Lebanon (CNN) - Israel on Sunday deported a Lebanese-born man who served six years in jail on charges of spying for the Shiite militant group Hezbollah.

Nasim Nisr's deportation back to Lebanon is being viewed by many as a prelude to a possible prisoner swap between Israel and Lebanon.

Hezbollah, which held a boisterous welcome rally for Nisr, claim he is not affiliated with the group but rather is a "Lebanese patriot."

In exchange, Hezbollah handed over a brown coffin containing the remains of Israeli soldiers killed during a 2006 war between the two sides.

Nisr, who was born to an Israeli Jewish mother and a Lebanese Muslim father, spent his childhood in Lebanon but left during the 1982 Israeli invasion. He settled near Tel Aviv, married and became an Israeli citizen.

Israeli authorities arrested him in 2002, and charged him with collaborating with Hezbollah.

Nisr completed his jail sentence this year, but Israeli authorities could have held him in administrative detention.

The release, therefore, is seen by many as a precursor to a prisoner exchange.

Israel is interested in the return of two soldiers captured during cross-border raid in July 2006: reservists Ehud Golwasser and Eldad Regev.

The Jewish state and Hezbollah fought a 34-day war in 2006 during which Israeli troops invaded Lebanon in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue the soldiers.

In exchange, Hezbollah is most interested in the release of convicted killer Samir Kuntar, who is the longest-serving Lebanese prisoner in Israel. Hezbollah hails him as a hero.

Kuntar led a group of four men who entered Israel from Lebanon by boat in 1979. They killed a police officer who came across them. Then they took a 28-year-old man and his four-year-old daughter hostage.

Kuntar shot the father dead at close range in front of his daughter and drowned him in the sea. He also smashed the girl's head, killing her.

He was sentenced to life.