Last update - 00:00 12/09/2006
IDF analysis shows soldiers wounded at time of kidnapping
By Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondent
An Israel Defense Forces report indicates that abducted soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser were wounded by the explosive that detonated near their vehicle shortly before Hezbollah kidnapped them on July 12.
The report includes a medical analysis by a chief medical officer in the army, on the basis of findings located at the abduction site. The IDF's working assumption continues to be that the two soldiers are alive.
The compilation of the report began immediately after it became clear that the soldiers had been captured, and it was completed some three weeks ago.
However, for reasons that remain unclear, the IDF delayed
submitting the report to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert until about a week after it was finished, once the cease-fire had already been announced.
The sources said Tuesday that the report was delayed primarily for bureaucratic reasons and because IDF officials wanted to present the material directly to Olmert, rather than sending it to his office.
"The report's findings do not introduce a lot of new information beyond what was known to the prime minister at the time, and therefore the delay in sending it was not significant," one source said.
"It's clear that if there had been new findings in the report that were important to the conduct of the fighting in the north, no one would have waited and the prime minister would have been apprised of the details immediately."