By Allyn Fisher-Ilan
ROME (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday his government was pushing for a deal to free an Israeli soldier held captive by Palestinian militants in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
But both the Israeli leader and a Hamas spokesman played down reports in the Arab press that an agreement to release the soldier, Gilad Shalit, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, was imminent.
"To this moment, I haven't received any such information," Netanyahu told reporters in Rome at the start of a European tour, adding: "We are making efforts on various levels. We are now examining various possibilities."
Netanyahu said he had issued instructions for a "combined effort to be made by all arms of the Israeli government" to try to win the soldier's release. He would not elaborate as to what terms Israel was prepared to meet.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri called published reports of a breakthrough in Egyptian-brokered talks "untrue," saying: "There is nothing new on this front."
A deal to free Shalit could clear the way for Israel to lift its blockade of Gaza, home to 1.5 million Palestinians. Israel said it tightened its cordon to put pressure on Hamas to release the 22-year-old.
SPEAKER FREED
Hamas has demanded in exchange for Shalit that Israel release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including some long-term inmates accused of carrying out deadly attacks against Israeli civilians.
Earlier Tuesday, Israel released a senior Hamas political leader, Palestinian parliamentary speaker Aziz Dweik. He is believed to be one of the prisoners that Hamas wanted to be freed by Israel in any swap deal.
Israel holds about 11,000 Palestinians in its jails, and their imprisonment is an emotive issue to Palestinians.
Marking the third anniversary of Shalit's capture in a June 25, 2006 cross-border raid by Hamas-led Palestinian militants, hundreds of Israelis temporarily blocked humanitarian goods from entering Gaza Tuesday.
The protesters cut off the approach to three major crossings while dozens of aid-laden trucks waited outside.
"I hope the message will reach the people of Gaza and their leaders," said Noam Shalit, Gilad's father, outside the Erez border crossing. An Israeli military spokeswoman said the crossings were reopened later after the protest ended.
Israeli forces bombed and then invaded Gaza last December to root out militants lobbing rockets into Israel. Their offensive caused widespread devastation to the infrastructure of the enclave.
In his three years of captivity, no Israeli or international groups have been allowed to visit Shalit. Except for a few letters and a tape-recorded voice message, he has been kept incommunicado. Continued...
Source: Reuters
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