Tel Aviv - Hezbollah's handover of remains over the weekend are from nine Israeli soldiers, Israel Radio announced on Monday, at the early conclusion of forensic investigations.

It was earlier reported that the soldiers were killed in the 2006 war with Lebanon, however, it will still take several days for the Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine to release a final report.

Hezbollah released the remains Sunday to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) remains of Israeli soldiers during a handover of a convicted Hezbollah spy, Nassim Nisr. He had been convicted for espionage by Israel and had served six years in prison, was handed over at the Naquora border crossing point.

The identification tags of soldier Ron Maschiach were also handed over.

Prisoner exchange talks, under German mediation, have been reported to have taken a recent leap toward the return of the captive Israeli soldiers in return for several Lebanese militants held in Israel.

In Lebanon on Sunday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he was pleased with the "first step" in the exchange of detainees between Israel and Hezbollah.

His remarks were made in a press conference following his meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora in Beirut Sunday.

"We are pleased that this exchange operation is a first step to a positive dynamic in secret talks aimed at achieving the final exchange operation," Steinmeier said. (dpa)