The families of the Israeli soldiers have never been told the fate of the young men [AFP]

The cabinet's decision on Tuesday sets the stage for the the exhange, expected to take place the following day.

"The government ratified the accord," Eli Yishai, deputy prime minister, said after the cabinet meeting.

As part of the deal Israel will release five Lebanese prisoners, including a man convicted of a 1979 triple murder, in exchange for two soldiers captured by Hezbollah in a deadly cross-border raid in 2006.

The families of the two Israeli soldiers have never been told the fate of the young men, although both are widely believed to be dead.

'Completely inadequate'

The cabinet first approved the swap deal in June, but was asked to back it a second time after Israel received a report from Hezbollah on Ron Arad, a missing Israeli air force pilot.

Arad's fate has also been unknown since his fighter jet was shot down over Lebanon in 1986 during the civil war, and although the report said he was probably dead, Israel has rejected its findings.

The Arad report was one of the conditions for the prisoner swap to go ahead, but Olmert on Monday called it "completely inadequate".

However, Avi Dichter, the public security minister, had said before the cabinet meeting that the deal would be approved.

"Anyone familiar with the facts knew very well that the Hezbollah report would not provide a conclusive answer on the fate of Ron Arad," he told army radio.

The exchange, which also includes the bodies of 199 Hezbollah and Palestinian fighters, is expected to be carried out by the Red Cross at the Israeli-Lebanese border on Wednesday.

David Baker, a spokesman for the Israeli government, said only three of the 25 cabinet minsters present at Tuesday's meeting voted against the deal.

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