The latest tension began when a Lebanese radio station reported last night that three corpses had been found in the Bekaa Valley, dating from the time of "the beginning of the Zionist conquest of Lebanon." 
The reference was to Israel's "Peace for Galilee War," undertaken in June 1982 following unending shelling and attacks by Hizbullah terrorists upon Israel's Galilee areas.
The three missing soldiers in question - Yehuda Katz, Zachary Baumel and Tzvi Feldman - took part in the bloody battle of Sultan Ya’aqub, in the Bekaa Valley, on June 11, 1982. Syrian troops and tanks ambushed an Israeli tank unit, comprising mostly yeshivat hesder students, and dozens of soldiers were killed. No final word on the fate of the above three was ever received. In November 1993, two months after the PLO and Israel signed the Oslo Accords, Arafat gave half of Zachary Baumel's dog-tag to then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
After initial excitement over the reports of the find, including a reaction by Israeli defense sources that the reports were "credible," Lebanese newspapers now say that the bodies may be those of Arabs. The papers say that one of the bodies is that of a woman in her 20's. The IDF is continuing to check the reports. It should be noted that the bodies were found in the area of Sultan Ya'aqub.
Yonah Baumel, father of Zachary, one of the missing soldiers, said last night that the information in his possession pointed towards the three being alive and not having been killed during the battle. "We must be very cautious about the Lebanese reports," he said. "They are champions at psychological warfare." He expressed the hope that United Nations representatives would be able to quickly perform a DNA check in order to solve the mystery.
Yehuda Katz's sister Pirchiah raised the possibility that Hizbullah does not want to remain outside the circle of expected terrorist releases, and is therefore trying to find something to offer Israel so that their terrorist prisoners can be released as well.
Three other Israeli soldiers who apparently found their deaths at the hands of Hizbullah terrorists in Lebanon were Adi Avitan, Benny Avraham, and Omar Souad. They were abducted and, according to official IDF sources, killed by Hizbullah at the beginning of the Oslo War in October 2000. Their bodies have not yet been returned. Adi Avitan's father said, "When I heard the news of the finding of the three bodies, I felt a shock go through my body. Even though I know that they were found in a different area [than where my son was abducted], I got all jittery and tense, and saw the image of Adi standing in front of my eyes."
The three missing soldiers in question - Yehuda Katz, Zachary Baumel and Tzvi Feldman - took part in the bloody battle of Sultan Ya’aqub, in the Bekaa Valley, on June 11, 1982. Syrian troops and tanks ambushed an Israeli tank unit, comprising mostly yeshivat hesder students, and dozens of soldiers were killed. No final word on the fate of the above three was ever received. In November 1993, two months after the PLO and Israel signed the Oslo Accords, Arafat gave half of Zachary Baumel's dog-tag to then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
After initial excitement over the reports of the find, including a reaction by Israeli defense sources that the reports were "credible," Lebanese newspapers now say that the bodies may be those of Arabs. The papers say that one of the bodies is that of a woman in her 20's. The IDF is continuing to check the reports. It should be noted that the bodies were found in the area of Sultan Ya'aqub.
Yonah Baumel, father of Zachary, one of the missing soldiers, said last night that the information in his possession pointed towards the three being alive and not having been killed during the battle. "We must be very cautious about the Lebanese reports," he said. "They are champions at psychological warfare." He expressed the hope that United Nations representatives would be able to quickly perform a DNA check in order to solve the mystery.
Yehuda Katz's sister Pirchiah raised the possibility that Hizbullah does not want to remain outside the circle of expected terrorist releases, and is therefore trying to find something to offer Israel so that their terrorist prisoners can be released as well.
Three other Israeli soldiers who apparently found their deaths at the hands of Hizbullah terrorists in Lebanon were Adi Avitan, Benny Avraham, and Omar Souad. They were abducted and, according to official IDF sources, killed by Hizbullah at the beginning of the Oslo War in October 2000. Their bodies have not yet been returned. Adi Avitan's father said, "When I heard the news of the finding of the three bodies, I felt a shock go through my body. Even though I know that they were found in a different area [than where my son was abducted], I got all jittery and tense, and saw the image of Adi standing in front of my eyes."