Israel Wary of Flurry of Reports from Groups Claiming to Hold Mias

Israeli officials are reacting with wariness to new claims from various Arab groups that they are holding missing Israeli soldiers or their bodies.

The claims appear to be an attempt by these groups to recover prisoners held by Israel as part of an international deal involving the release of Western hostages held in Lebanon.

One of the latest claims came Monday from the Shi’ite Amal militia in Lebanon, which said it is holding the bodies of two Israeli soldiers killed in a 1982 battle at Khalde, south of Beirut.

Spokespersons for the defense establishment said no Israelis had been reported missing from any fighting at Khalde.

However, three of the seven Israeli soldiers listed as missing in Lebanon were members of a tank crew hit during a battle with Syrian forces in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley in 1982.

But defense officials said Israel would not be wooed by any claims of recovered Israeli bodies until a “reliable international body” has examined the remains to establish whether they are indeed those of Israeli soldiers.

In one previous prisoner exchange, terrorists returned four bodies, three of which were found in forensic examinations to be those of Arabs.

Last week, Israeli officials warned the public to beware of a disinformation campaign by Lebanese and Palestinian groups.

Israel has complained it has yet to receive authentic information on the condition of missing servicemen, all the while it is being pressured to release some 375 Palestinian security prisoners held in Israel and southern Lebanon, in exchange for 10 Western hostages being held in Lebanon.

HAMAS SAYS IT HAS A SOLDIER

The missing Israeli soldier with the best chance of being alive is Capt. Ron Arad, an Israeli air force navigator shot down over Lebanon in 1986 and captured by Amal.

Last week, the head of the Amal militia, Lebanese Minister of State Nabih Berri, said Amal had “sold” Arad to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards several years ago for a half-million dollars. He said Arad had been taken to Teheran.

But on Sunday, a previously unknown Shi’ite organization calling itself the Sadr People said in Beirut that it is willing to release Arad, in exchange for information on the fate of missing Shi’ite religious leader Imam Mousa Sadr, who disappeared in Libya 13 years ago.

In another surprise announcement, Hamas, the Islamic resistance movement in the administered territories, claimed it is holding an Israeli soldier who disappeared within Israel in 1989.

The group said, in a communique released in Beirut, that it is holding Israel Defense Force Cpl. Han Sa’adon and wants to trade him as part of a general prisoner exchange.

The Hamas offer marks the first time a local Palestinian organization has taken part in the international hustle over hostages.

It is also the first time Sa’adon’s name has appeared, at least publicly, in the current negotiations. So far, only Israeli soldiers missing in Lebanon have been on the hostage swap agenda.

Sa’adon was last seen in the southern part of Israel on May 3, 1989. After an extensive manhunt, he was declared a fallen soldier.