2 held by Hezbollah badly wounded: Israel

Jerusalem, Dec 7: Two Israeli soldiers were seriously wounded during their capture by Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas in July and at least one of them could now be dead, senior Israeli security sources said today.

They cited the findings of an internal probe -- previously suppressed by military censors -- into evidence gathered from the border patrol road where the ambush took place.

The two would have required urgent medical attention to survive, the probe said. At least one was taken away in critical condition, it added, raising the possibility he later died.

Were that to be independently confirmed, it could alleviate domestic pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to enter into the prisoner swap demanded by Hezbollah, which has refused to comment on the soldiers' condition or location.

''The amount of blood left behind and other indications such as the blast damage caused to the vehicles carrying the soldiers point to the fact that they were seriously wounded, with one left in critical condition,'' an Israeli security source said.

''The question remains whether Hezbollah was capable or willing to provide them with the necessary care while also trying to spirit them to a hiding place.'' Eight soldiers were killed in the July 12 incident.

Israel launched a 34-day offensive in Lebanon in response to the raid, overrunning Hezbollah strongholds on the frontier before a UN-brokered truce took hold. It failed to retrieve Ehud Goldwasser, 31, and Eldad Regev, 27, both army reservists.

Hezbollah has ignored a UN call for the immediate release of the soldiers and said it would do so only if Israel freed Lebanese prisoners and possibly other Arabs held in its jails.

Political sources in Lebanon say Hezbollah has also turned down requests from the International Red Cross to visit the captives, as well as a UN-appointed mediator's appeals for information on their state of health.

Olmert demands signs of life

Though Olmert has publicly ruled out negotiations for the return of the troops, his decision to send an emissary to talks on a swap for a soldier held by Palestinian gunmen in Gaza has stirred speculation he might also relent regarding Hezbollah.

The Israeli prime minister said last week there would be no trade on Hezbollah's terms unless it proved Goldwasser and Regev were still alive.

''We do not plan on giving Hezbollah what they want in exchange for coffins,'' Olmert told foreign envoys.

The captives' families were angered by Olmert's comments.

''I think this may be an attempt by the prime minister's office to lower pressure to get the kidnapped soldiers freed,'' Regev's brother, Benny, told Israel Radio.

''We think they are alive. All the information we have attests to this. There is no concrete information that they are no longer among the living.'' In a previous swap deal, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah maintained silence on the fate of three Israeli soldiers his group captured in 2000.

He said any information would be given in return for Lebanese and Arab prisoners held in Israel.

The remains of those three soldiers, who turned out to have been killed during the border ambush in which they were taken by Hezbollah, and a captive Israeli businessman were exchanged for some 420 Arab prisoners in 2004.

Reuters