Three Israeli soldiers captured October 7, 2000 by the Lebanese Hizbollah, were likely gravely injured in their capture and could have succumbed to their injuries, the UN said Friday.
Traces of blood were found in two all-terrain vehicles allegedly used by the Islamist militants to seize the soldiers from the occupied Shebaa Farms region which borders Israel, Lebanon and Syria.
The revelation appeared in a report generated at the request of Secretary General Kofi Annan to investigate possible mistakes made by the United Nations mission in southern Lebanon after the kidnapping, according to AFP.
The BBC quoted the report as revealing that there were in fact three, not one, videotapes taken after the operation and they indicate the men could have been badly or even fatally wounded.
The 30-minute videotape shot by UN peacekeepers the day after the kidnapping shows the blue helmeted troops' attempts to recover the vehicles “despite aggressions by presumed members of Hizbollah.”
A note from the deputy commander of the UN force known as UNIFIL dated October 9 affirmed that the amount of blood found in the vehicles led him to believe the occupants "may have been badly injured and may succumb to their injuries."
The information, released in an internal UN report, was not at the time communicated to UN headquarters or to the special envoys working in the area.
The UN Friday admitted "lapses of judgment and failures in communication," but denied intentionally misleading Israel.
Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer said Friday that Israel was convinced the three soldiers were still alive.
"We believe the three soldiers are alive and we will continue our fight to bring them back," he told Israeli public television, according to AFP.
Enlisting the cooperation of the World Health Organization to analyze the blood stains to determine whether the blood belonged to the soldiers or their aggressors was among the proposals offered by the United Nations to the governments of both Israel and Lebanon.
The UN has already offered copies of the videotape to both Beirut and Tel Aviv, with the faces of the insurgents obscured.
Seven of the 51 objects recovered from the vehicles, including a military belt and a floor mat, have been transported to New York, said report author Joseph Connor, the undersecretary general for management.
The whereabouts of soldiers Benny Avraham, Omar Swaid and Adi Avitan remain a mystery despite exhaustive efforts by the UN, humanitarian organizations and their families.
"We want to know what has happened to our children... We have suffered enough," said Chaim Avraham, father of Benny, from Washington Thursday.
The families of the Israeli POWs met Thursday night in Washington with Deputy Secretary of State, William Burns and four senior senators, reported Haaretz.
Following the meeting, two of the senators published a statement demanding that the soldiers be treated well and that their families be told of their whereabouts. Also taking part in the meeting was Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg.
The chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Democratic Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware, promised to work towards attaining information on the soldiers and blamed Hizbollah in violating international laws.
According to Reuters, Connor's report concluded there was no collusion between UNIFIL peacekeepers and Hizbollah in the operation.
UN Chief Koffi Annan, who himself denied existence of the videotapes to Israel, announced he was moving quickly to change UN operations and procedures.
Hizbollah, which spearheaded resistance that forced Israel to end its 22-year occupation of southern Lebanon a year ago, insists the Shebaa region is Lebanese and Israel also needs to withdraw from there too. The movement is supported in this stand by Beirut government and Arab countries.
The United Nations disagrees, saying maps show the Shebaa Farms are part of Syria and that Hizbollah's “kidnapping” of the Israelis violated the frontier or "blue line" UN personnel had demarcated to verify Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon .
Hizbollah wants to swap the prisoners with hundreds of Lebanese and Arabs in Israeli jails. Efforts of mediation, especially by Germany, have so far failed – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
