Israeli authorities are considering penalties against a correspondent of the Sunday Times of London for filing a story which claimed that two Israeli soldiers held hostage by Hezbollah in Lebanon are long dead, Ha’aretz reported Monday.
The story, widely quoted here and abroad, was not submitted to the military censor.
Davar on Monday quoted a reliable diplomatic source in Washington as saying that Israel has information indicating that the soldiers held by Hezbollah were alive several months ago.
Contrary to the Sunday Times story, the IDF never informed the families that the men died in captivity, Davar said.
The Sunday Times story claimed that the kidnapped Hezbollah chief, Sheikh Abdul Karim Obeid, told his Israeli interrogators that the soldiers, Yossi Fink and Rahamim Alsheikh, died of wounds shortly after they were ambushed and kidnapped in southern Lebanon three years ago.
Israel declined to comment but an IDF spokesman suggested that Hezbollah was engaged in a disinformation campaign.
Senior IDF officers apparently alerted the soldiers’ families Saturday that the story would appear in the London newspaper the next day.
The families reportedly were told that the IDF considers the soldiers to be alive until informed otherwise by a credible source, such as the Red Cross.
The Times correspondent who may face charges for censorship violation is not the London weekly’s regular correspondent in Israel but only visits Israel on special assignments.
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