Beirut  - Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora described Tuesday the expected prisoner swap between Israel and Hezbollah as a "huge failure" for the Jewish state and a victory for the Shiite militant group.

"The release of the prisoners is thanks to the German mediator ... it is a huge failure for the policies of Israel," a statement from Seniora's office said.

"The success of Hezbollah in the negotiations led by a third party is a national success for the party and for the struggle of the Lebanese because it secured national goals which Israel always refused to respect."

The Israeli government on Sunday approved a deal to hand over to Hezbollah five Lebanese militants in return for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers whose capture sparked the summer 2006 war in Lebanon.

An undetermined number of Palestinians held in Israel prisons will also be released as part of the deal mediated by Germany.

Among the Lebanese to return home will be Samir Kuntar, the longest-held Arab prisoner in Israeli jails who was sentenced in 1980 to 542 years in jail for the murder of an Israeli civilian and his four-year-old daughter as well as an Israeli policeman.

Hezbollah's press office said Tuesday that the movement's secretary general Sheikh Hassan Nasarallah is scheduled to give a press conference on Wednesday afternoon on the issue of the swap. (dpa)