A Toronto family hopes it will reap the benefits of a prisoner exchange between Israel and the militant Lebanese group Hezbollah later this week.

Anwar Yassin, a member of the Lebanese Communist Party, has been in an Israeli prison for almost half his life.

“I have not experienced joy for 17 years,” said Jamila Naser Yassin, Anwar’s mother. “I hope his release will bring me happiness.”

He is among more than 400 Arab prisoners, most of whom are Palestinian, due to be released in exchange for an abducted Israeli businessman and three army soldiers.

They are missing and presumed dead, but Haim Avraham has not lost hope his soldier son Benny is still alive.

The deal was three years in the making. It is the most significant release of prisoners since Ariel Sharon became prime minister.

Sharon said it is proof Israel is true to its sons.

There are a few times that a cabinet deals with such moral dilemmas,” Sharon explained in Hebrew. “We reached the correct decision, the moral and responsible one.”

The swap has triggered its share of controversy in Israel.

Two senior Hezbollah leaders who were kidnapped as bargaining chips for information on Ron Arad -- Israel's most famous missing pilot, shot down over Lebanon in 1986 -- will be freed.

Confirmation of Arad’s fate could come in a second stage of negotiations, according to Hezbollah's leader.

“All parties -- the Hezbollah, the enemy and the German mediator, hope that this is what will be done during two or three months," said Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah in Arabic.

Hezbollah -- the name means Party of God; it is considered a terrorist organization by the Canadian government -- and Israel have been bitter foes who still engage in skirmishes along the Israel-Lebanon border.

However, Palestinian officials said the deal gives reason for optimism about peace.

CTV's Janis Mackey Frayer contributed to this report.