Der Spiegel: Olmert to declare Goldwasser, Regev dead
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST Feb. 16, 2008
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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is planning on declaring the two soldiers
kidnapped by Hizbullah in the summer of 2006 dead, the German weekly
magazine, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday.

According to the report, no date has yet been set for an official
announcement on the subject, but unnamed sources told the magazine that they
expect it to be made soon.

Although the Prime Minister's Office did not immediately respond to the
report, a government official told Israel Radio that there was still no new,
definitive information about kidnapped IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and
Eldad Regev.

The official added that Israel still believes that the two reservists are
alive, and continues in negotiations with Hizbullah through mediators.

After Hizbullah kidnapped Goldwasser and Regev in July 2006, Israel launched
an operation which aimed - among other objectives - to return the soldiers.
The operation quickly escalated into what was later termed as the Second
Lebanon War, and left over 150 Israelis dead, and over 1,000 Lebanese.

In an interview with Der Spiegel published on December 11, 2007, Olmert
voiced his frustration over Hizbullah's unwillingness to offer goodwill
gestures which could advance a prisoner swap.

"[Hizbullah is] trying to use the same old techniques: They want everything
in advance before they let us know the status of the soldiers," he said.

In October, statements made by Nasrallah which indicated positive progress
in the negotiations led to speculation of a deal involving the release of
Samir Kuntar. The Hizbullah leader had previously demanded the release of
Kuntar, who is serving multiple life terms for the killing of three members
of the Haran family and policeman Eliahu Shahar in Nahariya in 1979.