In Israel, Samir Qantar is reviled as a child murderer accused of crushing the head of a four-year-old girl with the butt of his rifle.

Yesterday, as he crossed the border into Lebanon, the longest-serving Arab prisoner in Israel received a hero’s welcome from hundreds of Hezbollah supporters who hailed the prisoner swap as a victory.

Minutes after being freed, Mr Qantar, a Lebanese Druze, and four Hezbollah fighters changed out of their prison uniforms of jeans and grey sweatshirts into crisp new camouflage uniforms and forage caps.

A guard of honour carrying Hezbollah and Palestinian flags accompanied them along a red carpet to a stage where a brass band played martial music and rows of uniformed fighters saluted them.

The portly Mr Qantar, perspiring in the late afternoon heat, led the former prisoners along a line of local dignitaries, hugging and kissing them and shaking their hands while supporters hurled handfuls of rice and rose petals.

Sheikh Ibrahim al-Amine Sayyed, Hezbollah’s political leader in south Lebanon, welcomed the return of the five detainees, saying: “You bet on the Resistance to free you and you were right to do so.”

The five men were then flown by helicopter to Beirut airport where they were greeted by Michel Suleiman, the Lebanese President, and the ministers in the newly formed Government of national unity. The ceremony, grouping Hezbollah’s allies and opponents, was regarded as a symbolic gesture of reconciliation after months of bitter political feuding between the rival camps.

In the evening, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah made a rare public appearance at a rally attended by tens of thousands in south Beirut, the Islamists’ stronghold. Standing next to Mr Qantar, Hezbollah’s leader confirmed that Israel had been deliberately kept in the dark about the deaths of the two abducted soldiers. “Had their fates been revealed in a tactical error, the negotiations would have taken a different course,” he said.

Mr Qantar had served nearly three decades in prison for his role in a deadly raid into northern Israel in March 1978. He was pardoned by President Peres of Israel on the eve of yesterday’s swap.

After arriving by rubber dinghy in the coastal town of Nahariya, he and three other gunmen killed a policeman and dragged an Israeli man and his daughter from their home before killing them on the beach.

The other four prisoners freed yesterday were Hezbollah fighters captured in the month-long war with Israel in 2006. They also received a rapturous reception at the ceremony, just a mile and a half north of the border with Israel.

Hezbollah men, some wearing black military dress, others in camouflage uniforms, lined the road. Party officialsclutching walkie-talkies marshalled their supporters.

A banner above the grandstand juxtaposed pictures of a crying Israeli soldier and child and Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, with his head in his hands, with pictures of jubilant Lebanese brandishing Hezbollah flags and a smiling Sheikh Nasrallah.

Accompanying the images was the slogan: “Israel is shedding tears of pain, Lebanon is shedding tears of joy. Freedom guaranteed by Nasrallah, humiliation guaranteed by Olmert.”

“This is a more important day than the victory over Israel two years ago,” said Qassem Atwi, a fisherman from Naqoura. “This proves to us that the prisoners would never have been released if it was not for the Resistance. The enemy only understands the logic of force.”

The Ismael family from Ras al-Ain village, ten miles north of Naqoura, had been waiting since 5am, sitting on the roadside in the blazing sun. “This is only the beginning today. We still have the Shebaa Farms to liberate,” said Hala Ismael, 31, referring to an Israeli-occupied mountainside along the border. “And after that we will turn our eyes to liberating Jerusalem.”

The four Hezbollah fighters are expected to return to active duty with their group. Izzat Kourani, 25, the wife of Maher Kourani, 32, one of the four, said she would insist that her husband continued serving.

“When you are living next door to a country like Israel, how could I possibly ask my husband to leave the Resistance?” she said. “I will not accept him to leave. In fact, we need more freedom fighters for they are the guarantee for the future of my son.”

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