At least one Israeli captive is feared dead

Two Israeli soldiers were seriously wounded in the July firefight in which they were captured by Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas, and at least one of them could be dead, senior Israeli security sources said Wednesday.

They cited findings of an internal investigation, previously suppressed by military censors, of evidence gathered from the border site where the ambush took place. The two army reservists would have required urgent medical attention, investigators found. At least one was taken away in critical condition, they said, raising the possibility that he later died.

Were that to be independently confirmed, it could alleviate pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to agree to a prisoner swap demanded by the Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah, which has refused to comment on the soldiers’ condition or location.

Eight soldiers were killed in the July 12 ambush. Israel launched a 34-day offensive in Lebanon in response, overrunning Hezbollah strongholds before a United Nations-brokered truce took hold. But it failed to retrieve Ehud Goldwasser, 31, and Eldad Regev, 27.

The U.N. has called for the soldiers’ release.