JERUSALEM - In their first comment about the fate of two soldiers whose capture triggered a monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas last summer, Israeli officials said Wednesday the two were seriously wounded — raising the prospect they may no longer be alive.

The Israeli military censor allowed publication of the existence of the report on Wednesday, and local media broadcast sketchy details. Military officials told The Associated Press the report determined that one of the soldiers was critically wounded and the other seriously wounded when they were captured, without giving further details. They spoke on condition of anonymity under military rules.

"If they did not receive immediate medical treatment, there is grave concern for their lives," Israel TV military correspondent Yoav Limor said on the nightly TV newscast.

After Hezbollah guerrillas crossed the Lebanon-Israel border in July and attacked an Israeli patrol, killing three soldiers and capturing the two, Israel sent regular forces into Lebanon, first to look for the soldiers and then to try to beat Hezbollah into submission.

Both missions failed, and the war ended inconclusively after Hezbollah fired almost 4,000 rockets at northern Israel despite a massive Israeli ground and air assault on Lebanon.

The outcome of the war cut deeply into popular support for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and it continues to haunt him. This week, he caused an uproar with a comment about the captured soldiers, "if they (are alive), and we hope they are alive," saying it would have been improper to extend the war to try to win their freedom. Families of the soldiers objected to his implication that the two might be dead.

Wednesday's disclosure of the soldiers' serious wounds indicated that Olmert was referring to a real possibility that the soldiers might not have survived. This would have implications on negotiations with Hezbollah, although Israel has released prisoners both for captured soldiers and for bodies. The U.N. is trying to mediate, but there are no reports of progress or of actual contacts.

Hezbollah has not released any details on the conditions of the soldiers, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, or provided any signs that they are still alive.

A senior Hezbollah official, Sheik Hassan Ezzeddine, said he knows nothing about their conditions. "Only Sayyed Nasrallah knows," he told the AP, referring to Hezbollah leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah.

Olmert has demanded that Hezbollah provide signs of life before he will consider a deal.

In a statement Wednesday, the military would say only that a report about the circumstances of the abduction has been given to the defense minister, army commander and families of the soldiers. "The working assumption of the army was and remains that the abducted soldiers are alive and according to that assumption the army continues its efforts to bring the soldiers home," the statement said.

In the war triggered by the capture of the soldiers, more than 1,000 people were killed on both sides, according to the U.N. and Israeli and Lebanese officials.

Lebanon says most of those killed were civilians. Israel claims 800 Hezbollah fighters were killed, though that figure was not substantiated. On the Israeli side, 159 people were killed, including 39 soldiers.

The U.N.-brokered cease-fire that ended the war calls for the unconditional release of the soldiers. Under the cease-fire, a bolstered U.N. peacekeeping force, along with Lebanese government troops, is policing the border with Israel. -AP