JERUSALEM – Israeli officials are trying to establish the identities of several Hezbollah prisoners nabbed in Lebanon who they suspect are Iranian, The Post has learned.
The prisoners are among more than two dozen Hezbollah captives the Israeli military is holding.
The guerrilla group insists there are no Iranian fighters among its ranks.
But Israel’s Channel 10 television reported that the bodies of members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard have been found among Hezbollah fighters slain by Israeli forces in Lebanon.
And a member of Israel’s defense Cabinet, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Iran still has operatives in Hezbollah and has spent billions to train and arm the group.
“There is no doubt that Iranian instructors and commanders are still operating in Hezbollah in Lebanon. They’ve been doing their training meticulously for several years,” the Cabinet member told The Post yesterday.
“The more we fight Hezbollah strongholds, the more we are amazed by their preparedness for the war.
“My evaluation is Iran invested the equivalent of $15 billion in the building of the vast Hezbollah war machine.”
The further evidence of the Iranian connection came as Israeli troops seized the strategic southern hub Marjayoun and warned that its fight against Hezbollah could escalate if diplomacy fails.
Missiles from Israeli helicopter gunships blasted the top of a historic lighthouse in central Beirut in a bid to knock out a broadcast antenna for Lebanese state television.
The seizure of Marjayoun, a mostly Christian city, appeared to be an attempt to give Israel an important foothold in southern Lebanon before a possible push northward.
On Wednesday, the defense Cabinet approved a thrust toward the Litani River, 18 miles north of the Lebanese border. But Israel has held off to give diplomacy a chance to work.
Israeli warplanes did drop leaflets on downtown Beirut. The fliers threatened a “painful and strong” response to Hezbollah attacks, and warned residents to evacuate three southern suburbs.
Leaflets were also dropped on a key northern highway to Syria, which would be considered a target in a widened attack.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, fired nearly 70 rockets into Israel, killing 5-year-old Fathi Assadi and his mother, Miriam, 26, in the Arab Israeli village of Dir al-Assad.
Eleven other people were wounded, including the dead boy’s 3-year-old brother, Faris.
An Israeli soldier was killed and two were wounded in battles with Hezbollah guerrillas yesterday.
With Post Wire Services