The Lebanese political class - from the Maronite Patriarch Boutros Sfeir to anti-Hezbollah Christian leaders like Samir Geagea and Amine Gemayel - has all described Israel's release of the prisoners as a "positive" development. "They say it is ‘positive,'" explains Tony, "not because Kuntar is back but because they want to use it to shut the door on Hezbollah's weapons. This strips them of one of their justifications to hold on to their arms - fighting for the liberation of Lebanese prisoners. Kuntar was the last of them so that file is now closed."

But of course Hezbollah will not willingly abandon its arms under any circumstances. And the events of the last week are merely a distraction on the road to what many believe is an inevitable renewal of civil war in Lebanon. Hezbollah can have their civil war as they showed in May by overrunning Beirut. But as their opponents showed them in the Shouf Mountains and the north of Lebanon, they cannot win that civil war. No one will win it.

The question then is, why did so many of the Lebanese politicians who may eventually make war against Hezbollah feel compelled to celebrate with them.

"You can't underestimate how important the Israeli conflict is for Arabs and Muslims," says Wadih. "It is part of the inferiority complex. Despite all the conflicts among the Arabs themselves, this still comes first. And because of the place it occupies in the Arab mind, there is a sacred line you need to follow to satisfy the popular demand, whether you believe it or not. It is a sickness, to be sure. How else can you explain that a murderer is received as a hero?"